Chilean Appeals Court Panel Overturns Ruling Suspending Government Plan To Distribute EC At No Cost To Girls Ages 14 And Older

A panel of the Santiago, Chile, Appeals Court on Thursday overturned a temporary injunction issued by the court earlier this month that suspended the government's plan to distribute emergency contraceptive pills in public clinics to girls ages 14 and older at no cost and without parental consent Reuters AlertNet reports (Reuters AlertNet, 9/22). Chilean Health Minister Maria Soledad Barria earlier this month announced the government's plans to distribute EC, which can prevent pregnancy if taken up to 72 hours after sexual intercourse and since 2001 has been available in pharmacies in Chile by prescription. It also has been available to teenagers with parental consent. However, EC -- which costs about $20 in the country -- has been accessible only to the middle and upper classes, some people have said. Two parents and La Florida, Chile, Mayor Pablo Zalaquett filed lawsuits earlier this month seeking to block implementation of the law, according to Alejandro Espinoza, a spokesperson for Chile's Supreme Court (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 9/14). Zalaquett said that the panel's ruling to overturn the injunction is a "slap in the face to parents and families in Chile, and, unfortunately, the ones who will pay will be the poor and the country's youngest children." Government spokesperson Ricardo Lagos Weber said the panel's decision "seems correct" and "equitable," adding that the decision "obligates [the government] to take responsibility for the profound and serious reality that the sexual initiation of young people in Chile is occurring at a very early age" (Reuters AlertNet, 9/22). Rulings on the lawsuits challenging the government's plan could be issued in the next two to three weeks, according to court sources (EFE News Service, 9/22). Chilean Appeals Court Panel Overturns Ruling Suspending Government Plan To Distribute EC at No Cost to Girls Ages 14 and Older

[Sep 26, 2006]

      A panel of the Santiago, Chile, Appeals Court on Thursday overturned a temporary injunction issued by the court earlier this month that suspended the government's plan to distribute emergency contraceptive pills in public clinics to girls ages 14 and older at no cost and without parental consent Reuters AlertNet reports (Reuters AlertNet, 9/22). Chilean Health Minister Maria Soledad Barria earlier this month announced the government's plans to distribute EC, which can prevent pregnancy if taken up to 72 hours after sexual intercourse and since 2001 has been available in pharmacies in Chile by prescription. It also has been available to teenagers with parental consent. However, EC -- which costs about $20 in the country -- has been accessible only to the middle and upper classes, some people have said. Two parents and La Florida, Chile, Mayor Pablo Zalaquett filed lawsuits earlier this month seeking to block implementation of the law, according to Alejandro Espinoza, a spokesperson for Chile's Supreme Court (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 9/14). Zalaquett said that the panel's ruling to overturn the injunction is a "slap in the face to parents and families in Chile, and, unfortunately, the ones who will pay will be the poor and the country's youngest children." Government spokesperson Ricardo Lagos Weber said the panel's decision "seems correct" and "equitable," adding that the decision "obligates [the government] to take responsibility for the profound and serious reality that the sexual initiation of young people in Chile is occurring at a very early age" (Reuters AlertNet, 9/22). Rulings on the lawsuits challenging the government's plan could be issued in the next two to three weeks, according to court sources (EFE News Service, 9/22).

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