Catalina Pizarro was 12 weeks pregnant when she was told that her daughter Clara would not survive.
From that day on, every week was a period of waiting. She requested access to a termination of pregnancy on the grounds of fetal non-viability, as provided for under Chile’s three-cause law, but was denied because her daughter’s condition was not included in the regulations used to authorize the procedure. So she continued her pregnancy for two months, knowing how it would end. She describes that period as a devastating experience, marked by the anguish of waiting for an outcome she already knew.
Her case went to court and ended in a landmark ruling in Chile. The ruling recognized that her right to access a legal termination of pregnancy had been violated and ordered compensation of $100.275.000 Chilean pesos, equivalent to approximately US$101.600. A ruling that once again raises a difficult question: what happens when a right exists in law, but barriers in the system prevent people from exercising it in time?