Chile lawmakers knock down bill to ease abortion rules

FILE PHOTO: A pro-choice activist shout slogans outside Congress, where lawmakers are discussing a bill that decriminalises abortion until the 14th week of gestation, in Valparaiso, Chile September 28, 2021. REUTERS/Rodrigo Garrido/File Photo

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chile's lower Chamber of Deputies rejected a bill on Tuesday that sought to expand legal access for women to get abortions, legislation that was opposed by the South American country's center-right government.

At the end of September, legislators in the chamber voted in favor of studying and debating the bill, that proposed legalizing termination of pregnancy up to 14 weeks.