Women's eNews (https://womensenews.org/author/matt-malinowski/)
Since Chile’s announcement of a public pension reform that extends to unpaid homemakers, applications by women have been pouring in. President Bachelet portrays the reform as a major fulfillment of her commitment to women’s financial security.
Chilean judges, siding with the Vatican, have dealt a major blow to the Bachelet government by ending free emergency contraception in public clinics. A women’s rights group is organizing a mass renunciation of Catholicism to express their outrage.
Chile’s plan to ensure wide availability of emergency contraception is running into resistance. One group of politicians has filed a lawsuit to block access and three pharmaceutical chains have balked at selling it.
Safety advocates in Chile are planning nighttime marches across the country to protest the growing number of women killed by domestic violence; President Michelle Bachelet has proposed related legislation to be debated in coming weeks.