Chile is one of only six countries that outlaws abortion entirely, but in a June interview with the Spanish newspaper El País President Michelle Bachelet said, “Abortion will be decriminalized this year.” Under the planned changes, abortion would be allowed when a woman’s life is at risk, in cases of rape or when the fetus is not viable. The total ban on abortion was enacted in 1989 as one of the last acts of Augusto Pinochet’s autocratic regime.

While the bishops have presented considerable opposition to reform, Chile’s abortion ban has been under increased scrutiny since the 2013 case of Belén, an 11-year-old girl who had been raped by her stepfather and was denied access to an abortion. Another notorious incident happened earlier this year, when a 17-year-old arrived at a hospital hemorrhaging from a clandestine abortion and is now facing 3-5 years of imprisonment, according to the Chilean newspaper El Universo.

Lidia Casas, an expert in Chile’s abortion statutes, told BBC Mundo, “I think that some form of decriminalization will be approved…. [Bachelet] can’t dodge it.” In a recent speech, Bachelet called for a “mature discussion” about the reality of abortion in the country, where an estimated 150,000 abortions take place every year.