Chile Provides free Birth Control and Emergency Contraception!

At the behest of the Chilean Center for the Development of Women, who asked for greater accessibility to Emergency Contraception, the Chilean Health Ministry decided that contraception will be publicly available for all women over the age of 14 FREE of charge.

According to IPS, all public health centers must dispense birth control, including emergency contraception (EC), free of charge. The decree also ensures that younger women can without authorization from their parents obtain a prescription for birth control pills.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, (a former a pediatrician) has responded to right-wing and Catholic criticism by saying, "The obligation of the state is to provide alternatives, and the obligation of families, of each one of us, is to communicate with our children, explain things to them, and to teach them." Government Spokesperson Ricardo Weber expanded on the real need for Chile to provide these services, telling IPS that 14 of every 100 young people are sexually active by the age of 14.



I'm just so impressed. There's really been a reversal of leadership roles between North and South America.
For now, let's imagine a US in which zealot pharmacists cannot deny women their sexual and reproductive freedoms.