Chile's highest court recently ruled to prohibit the distribution of emergency contraception (EC) in public health clinics in all circumstances, including to women who have been victims of rape. This decision drastically threatens efforts to ensure the rights and well being of Chilean women.

Over the last few years, a series of political and legal challenges have delayed attempts to curb unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions in Chile, where nearly 40,000 teenage girls become pregnant and 35 percent of all pregnancies are terminated illegally each year.

This most recent court ruling challenges significant efforts to reduce unwanted pregnancies in a country that already faces high teenage pregnancy rates. Abortion is illegal in Chile and without safe options for avoiding unwanted pregnancy the court's decision could mean that Chile's teenage pregnancy rate will continue to climb.

The controversy surrounding emergency contraception stems in part from misconceptions about how it prevents a pregnancy. Often referred to as the "morning after pill," when taken up to 72 hours after sexual intercourse it can prevent fertilization because it contains more concentrated doses of the same ingredients as regular birth control pills. The Chilean legislators who brought this case forward in 2007 argued that emergency contraception only prevents implantation - something most scientists dispute - and violates the right to life because they believe life starts at fertilization.

Misguided Chilean conservatives continue to fear that providing emergency contraception will increase promiscuity and threaten parental authority. But extensive research has established that access to emergency contraception in no way encourages sexual activity.

Emergency contraception is highly effective when taken correctly, and the sooner it is taken after intercourse, the more effective it will be. Therefore access to it and other forms of birth control need to be available without delay. Obstacles, like parental consent for young women or high prices, make it difficult for emergency contraception to be used within the time frame when it is most effective.

The court's dangerous decision to prohibit access to emergency contraception curtails President Michelle Bachelet's advances in female health care and threatens the right to privacy and choice for Chilean women. It is unacceptable that public health efforts to provide access to contraceptives and to decrease the large number of unwanted pregnancies are now undermined by ideological distortions of scientific evidence.

Por: Carmen Barroso, New York Regional director International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere

Publicado en: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/01/opinion/edlet.php