The Amendment of the Chilean Abortion Laws
(2018) UTVK03 20181Sociology
- Abstract
- In August of 2017, Chile lifted its total ban on abortion that had been in effect since 1989. The new abortion laws allow women to access safe and legal abortion in cases of incest, fatal fetal impairment or if pregnancy is threatening the life of the mother. This research will put focus on the process that led to the amendment of the Chilean abortion laws and will primarily strive to enhance the understanding of how different networks have worked in order to influence the abortion realm. Second, it will examine the political climate with the intention to grasp the political opportunities that have been offered to these networks within the Chilean context. The theoretical framework that this thesis will build upon is the theory of issue... (More)
- In August of 2017, Chile lifted its total ban on abortion that had been in effect since 1989. The new abortion laws allow women to access safe and legal abortion in cases of incest, fatal fetal impairment or if pregnancy is threatening the life of the mother. This research will put focus on the process that led to the amendment of the Chilean abortion laws and will primarily strive to enhance the understanding of how different networks have worked in order to influence the abortion realm. Second, it will examine the political climate with the intention to grasp the political opportunities that have been offered to these networks within the Chilean context. The theoretical framework that this thesis will build upon is the theory of issue networks, political opportunity structures and hegemonic masculinity. Due to the recent nature of the amendment, there is a general lack of previous research made on this specific topic. Consequently, the main sources of data are international and local newspaper articles and documents issued by international organizations. This research is based on a qualitative single case study and the material has been selected and analyzed in accordance with a content analysis.
In this research actors, that have been involved in the issue networks surrounding the amendment of the Chilean abortion laws, are identified and a relationship between international organizations and local women’s movements that have worked in order to liberalize the abortion laws is highlighted. Actors that participated in the issue network that strived to block legal advances within the abortion realm are also pinpointed and their link to the Catholic Church is illuminated.
This paper has also discussed the political opportunities for change that have been offered to the networks. With this, the political split within the governing alliance, the declining public approval rates of president Michelle Bachelet, the electoral agenda alongside the increased public acceptance of abortion, the elite alliances and the political influence of the Catholic Church are identified and elaborated on. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8948256
- author
- Burman, Vilma LU ; Burman, Vilma ; Burman, Vilma and Burman, Vilma
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- UTVK03 20181
- year
- 2018
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Chile, abortion laws, issue networks, political opportunity structures, hegemonic masculinity
- language
- English
- id
- 8948256
- date added to LUP
- 2018-06-21 14:00:48
- date last changed
- 2018-06-21 14:00:48
@misc{8948256,
abstract = {{In August of 2017, Chile lifted its total ban on abortion that had been in effect since 1989. The new abortion laws allow women to access safe and legal abortion in cases of incest, fatal fetal impairment or if pregnancy is threatening the life of the mother. This research will put focus on the process that led to the amendment of the Chilean abortion laws and will primarily strive to enhance the understanding of how different networks have worked in order to influence the abortion realm. Second, it will examine the political climate with the intention to grasp the political opportunities that have been offered to these networks within the Chilean context. The theoretical framework that this thesis will build upon is the theory of issue networks, political opportunity structures and hegemonic masculinity. Due to the recent nature of the amendment, there is a general lack of previous research made on this specific topic. Consequently, the main sources of data are international and local newspaper articles and documents issued by international organizations. This research is based on a qualitative single case study and the material has been selected and analyzed in accordance with a content analysis.
In this research actors, that have been involved in the issue networks surrounding the amendment of the Chilean abortion laws, are identified and a relationship between international organizations and local women’s movements that have worked in order to liberalize the abortion laws is highlighted. Actors that participated in the issue network that strived to block legal advances within the abortion realm are also pinpointed and their link to the Catholic Church is illuminated.
This paper has also discussed the political opportunities for change that have been offered to the networks. With this, the political split within the governing alliance, the declining public approval rates of president Michelle Bachelet, the electoral agenda alongside the increased public acceptance of abortion, the elite alliances and the political influence of the Catholic Church are identified and elaborated on.}},
author = {{Burman, Vilma and Burman, Vilma and Burman, Vilma and Burman, Vilma}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{The Amendment of the Chilean Abortion Laws}},
year = {{2018}},
}