Abortion de-penalization bill falls short in Chile Congress

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chile’s Congress has narrowly defeated a law to de-penalize elective abortions up to 14 weeks after gestation. The measure that lost on a 65-62 vote Tuesday would have eliminated a potential five-year prison sentence for women who undergo abortions as well as the doctors who perform them. At least five members of the center-left coalition that has a lower house majority joined the conservative governing bloc to vote against the measure. Backers say they’ll try again, but the incoming Congress will be more conservative than the current body. Chile permits interruption of pregnancies only in cases of rape, danger to the mother’s life or an inviable fetus.