The Minister of Health of José Antonio Kast’s Government, May Chomali, slammed the door this Monday on the bill that establishes that doctors must offer women the chance to hear the fetal heartbeat before undergoing a legal abortion and, if they do not want to, the health professional cannot interrupt their pregnancy. Chomali, a surgeon by profession, stated this morning on Tele13 Radio that “there is no scientific evidence” supporting the initiative Listen to their heart, promoted by a group of deputies from the Libertarian National Party (PNL) and the Republican Party, the party founded by the Chilean president. Libertarian deputy Cristóbal Urruticoechea, the main author of the motion, responded to the minister questioning whether the Executive was on the side of “saving a life” or “appeasing the relentless anger of feminism.”
Kast’s Government had been evasive about taking a stance regarding the bill presented in Congress at the end of June, which speaks to its most extreme bases. Minister Chomali, however, was categorical this morning: “From a clinical point of view, we have looked and there is no scientific evidence, which is what should move us, that the woman will change her decision in those three grounds,” referring to the life risk for the mother, fetal inviability, and rape. The Secretary of State pointed out that doctors still have to perform ultrasounds to identify the first two grounds and, surely, to know if the woman is pregnant as well. “Therefore, for all medical purposes, it is something that does not make a difference,” she added. “There has been talk of revictimization, which one could agree with. We have not looked much at the psychological effects on the mother, but from the point of view of scientific evidence, there is no evidence that the woman will change her mind.”
Regarding international evidence, deputy Urruticoechea responded to the minister that “there is experience, there are data, there are percentages in all the States of the United States where this law is applied, and also in Hungary. I don’t know why you haven’t been able to find it.” And he added: “Which side are we on? Are we on the side of saving a life? Are we on the side of appeasing all this relentless anger of feminism, the press, and trying to keep everything in order, knowing that there are murders of children who are completely innocent? Where are Cardinal Chomali’s words then?” This last question pointed out that Cardinal Fernando Chomali — Archbishop of Santiago and brother of the minister — said in mid-July on a La Tercera streaming program that he rejected abortion on three grounds and that experience shows that when there is medical, psychological, spiritual, economic support, “women feel more accompanied and desist from it.”
Regarding the bill, the cardinal stated that he did not know it specifically, but that it hurt him that the proposal caused “a division, a polarization, and an impressive anger.” He suggested that “it would be very good” for that heartbeat to be heard by a doctor “who committed to cure, to heal, to care about life,” instead of showing it to a woman who “is in a very difficult, very complex situation.” “It hurts me that there are doctors who lend themselves to performing an abortion. I find that terrible,” he added. Public support for the bill is a minority and has been declining: 54% of those surveyed by Criteria last Sunday disagreed, 25% took no stance, and only 21% said they supported it. The rejection is cross-cutting politically, with a majority even within the right itself (40% against versus 35% in favor).
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Minister Chomali’s statements open a rift among the right-wing, but also represent a confrontation within Kast’s Government. The Minister Secretary General of the Presidency, José García Ruminot, stated at the end of July that the Executive was willing to dialogue with the PNL about the initiative: “We have to talk with them, we have to see the convenience, the inconvenience, and try to come out with a solution that can be satisfactory for everyone.” García Ruminot even suggested on Mesa Central of Canal 13 that the project “makes sense when it comes to abortions due to rape,” although he acknowledged that forcing a raped woman to hear fetal heartbeats “obviously makes it more violent.”
Unlike his previous attempts to reach La Moneda during the last presidential campaign, Kast did not enter the so-called values agenda, arguing that the priorities of the citizens were focused on security, the economy, and migration. The libertarians, who are more to the right than the republicans and are not part of the government, do want to install cultural battle issues, which causes discomfort to the Executive, with whom they share ultraconservative principles.
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