The Chilean Constitutional Tribunal voted 5-4 to successfully ban the distribution of the morning-after pill, thereby reversing a presidential decree that made contraception available to all women 14 and above. 

The campaign to push more aggressively Chilean women’s contraceptive rights initiated by President Michelle Bachelet and Maria Soledad Barria, Health Minister began in 2006.  By presidential decree 2007, public health authorities were mandated to ensure the availability of the morning-after pill in public health centers – where women 14 and above may obtain them for free– as well as in all major pharmacies.
The move had been facing staunch opposition, mainly from religious and conservative groups that believe that the pill is tantamount to abortion.  Furthermore, legislators who filed a lawsuit against Bachelet’s government contend that “emergency contraception violates the right to life ensured by the Chilean constitution.”

Resistance, too, was met from several pharmacies, such as Salcobrand, who refused to carry the pill on the grounds of morality and religious freedom.
By the President’s account, "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."

In a country where women tend to become sexually active at 14 and where “tens of thousands of babies are born to mothers under the age of 20,” the morning-after pill is not a light matter.  In fact, the public’s openness to the pill had been increasing recently.  It is reported that “forty-nine percent of Chileans said that emergency contraception should be made available to any woman who wanted it, up from 40 percent the year before, according to a November poll by La Tercera.  Nearly 70 percent of respondents said they would want their daughters to take emergency contraception after unprotected sex.”  It is therefore curious that it was in this more accepting environment that the court delivered its ruling.

Proponents of the contraception project in Chile lament the decision.  “This means going back to square one,” says Francisco Vidal, government spokesperson.  “This means only women with money will be able to buy the pill, and that bothers the government and the immense majority of the country.”  Indeed, it means that poor women, those who are in most need of access to the pill, will just have to save their pesos before queuing up at the counter.  “Back of the line, you lot,” it is for them.

Sources
“Chile: Birth Control Free for Women Over 14.” Feminist Daily News Wire (2006, September 6).  Retrieved on 16 April 2008, from http://feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=9859
Malinowski, Matt.  “Court Blocks Chile move on morning-after pill.”  (2008, 4 April)  Retrieved on 15 April 2008, from http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN04348828
Malinowski, Matt.  “Chile’s Morning-After Pill Hits Access Battle.”  (2008, 31 January)  Retrieved on 15 April 2008, from http://womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/356/context/archive
“Chile Bans Free ‘Morning-After’ Pills.”  (2008, April 4)  Retrieved on 15 April 2008, from http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hFOUbon19fjI--ZDrThQNfBjs!7AD8VRDP900