Defective birth-control pills have been blamed for at least 140 unplanned pregnancies in Chile, according to reproductive-rights activists. The New York Times reports that some 276,800 packets of the faulty oral contraceptives were handed out by Chile’s public health-care system before they were quietly recalled over the defects. No news conference was held by the government to publicize the recall and no plan was made to directly contact the women who had been given the pills. The result, activists say, was at least 140 unintended pregnancies. The women have no legal option for abortion, which is only permitted in Chile in cases such as rape or if there’s danger to the mother’s life. “We’ve never seen such a systemic failure, that lasted as long as the case in Chile, with such severe consequences,” said Paula Ávila-Guillén, the executive director of Women’s Equality Center. Melanie Riffo, 20, became pregnant despite taking birth control. She told the Times: “I’m not looking forward to his birth like I would have liked to... And that makes me feel terrible.”
Read it at The New York Times
