Chile: Constitutional Court abortion decision – now in English!

Congratulations and thanks to the legal translators* of the landmark 2017 abortion decision in Chile.  In this 294-page ruling, the Constitutional Court of Chile upheld the constitutionality of new government legislation that would remove the criminal prohibition on procuring an abortion on three grounds:  when there is imminent risk to the life of the mother, in case of fatal fetal disease, and in cases of rape.  It also made  important revisions to the law, extending conscientious objection beyond “professional” participants, and allowing conscientious objection to be invoked by institutions.

Our new English translation, online here, will allow a wider range of international scholars and advocates to examine and comment upon the text of Chile’s abortion bill, with access to the petition of unconstitutionality, the State’s responses, the final judgment of the majority, and the arguments and reservations of dissenting judges.

Constitutional Court of Chile (Tribunal Constitucional de Chile)  STC Rol N° 3729(3751)-17 CPT.   English Decision: 149 pages
which includes a Table of Contents for both English and Spanish editions. 
Original Decision in Spanish: 294 pages, 

OVERVIEW OF ENGLISH PDF   149-pages
Citation and Acknowledgments     (p. 1)
Table of Contents to English and Spanish print versions     ( 2-7)
Background
Impugned articles of the abortion Bill     (8-14)
Petitioners’ arguments and State responses      ( 14-17)
Alleged Constitutional Conflicts     (17-25)
International Law Aspects     (25-26)
Public Hearings and Reviews      ( 26-29)
Decision of the Majority
Brief Summary  (p. 30)
1:  Decriminalization of abortion on three grounds     (30-69)
2:  Conscientious Objection     (69-72)
Dissents:
1: Decriminalization of abortion on three grounds   (73-98)
2: Conscientious Objection      (98-118)
Reservations and Partial Concurrences:
1: Decriminalization on three grounds     (118-124;  124-131)
2: Conscientious Objection      (131-132,  132-133, 133-141)
Official Syntheses:
1: Decriminalization on three grounds     (143-145)
2: Conscientious Objection       (146-149).

*This unofficial translation, sponsored by the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, Canada, was completed in March 2018, with many thanks to our valiant team of translators and editors: Maria Belén Saavedra, Claudia Sarmiento, Diego Garcia-Ricci, Eleana Rodriguez, Christopher Campbell-Duruflé, Olimpia Boido, Carlos Herrera Vacaflor, Mercedes Cavallo, and Esteban Vallejo-Toledo.