”The woman has to pay her sin” : The conditions for a policy change in the abortion legislation in Chile

Abstract: The research question in this study is assessing the conditions for policy change regarding the abortion legislation in Chile. This was executed by conducting semi-structured interviews, with informants of a broad range of knowledge, and collecting written sources, with a particular focus on the abortion legislation in Chile, through a two-month minor field study in Chile, funded by Sida, in 2015. For this study, an analytical framework was created by combining Kingdon’s theory of Policy Window and Htun’s research regarding gender policy change in Latin America; the problem recognition-, the policy advocacy-, the social support- and the political support criterion. The analytical framework was used to examine the conditions for Michelle Bachelet’s policy proposal from January of 2015, which would decriminalize abortion in three instances; (1) when the women’s life was at risk, (2) when a fetus would not be viable outside the womb and, (3) in the case of rape. The study showed that the conditions are favorable for a policy change in the problem recognition-, the policy advocacy- and the social support criterion. The favorable conditions are due to the issue of abortion in all three instances, being perceived as recognized by both the public and the political elite; the issue having a strong public support and a unified and strong issue network promoting a legislative change. The main difference between the conditions of the three policy proposals could be found in the political support criterion, where the issue of abortion in the case of a non-viable fetus or rape could possibly not pass, as a consequence of a fragmentation within the government and the decreasing public support for the Bachelet administration.