Chile lawmakers take 'first step' towards easing abortion rules

FILE PHOTO: Pro-choice activists holds banner reading 'Abortion legal, safe and free!' during a rally outside the government house as the chamber of deputies discuss a bill that decriminalises abortion until the 14th week of gestation, in Santiago, Chile January 13, 2021. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chile's lower Chamber of Deputies approved on Tuesday a plan to debate a bill that would expand the legal access for women to get abortions, despite opposition from the South American country's center-right government.

The lower house passed the motion with 75 votes in favor versus 68 against and two abstentions, which allows it to move forward examining the bill that proposed legalizing termination of pregnancy up to 14 weeks.