Chilean Congress Approves Abortion Law

Lawmakers in Chile's lower house of Congress on Thursday approved abortion in limited circumstances, the first step towards lifting a decades-long ban on the practice in the South American country.

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Under the measure approved by the Chamber of Deputies, abortion will be allowed in cases of rape, risk to the mother, or when the fetus is no longer considered viable. The Senate must now approve the draft.

"Incredible — the motion is passed," said the leader of the Chamber of Deputies Marco Antonio Nuñez, after a heated debate of the draft submitted by the government of President Michelle Bachelet.

Chile is considered to be one of the most rigid Latin American countries in terms of abortion laws.

Reforming the abortion ban in Chile was one of Bachelet's promises if elected for a second term in 2013.

The current legislation has been debated for well over a year, facing stiff resistance from even within the government's ruling coalition.

Abortion had been legal in Chile before 1989 in cases of risk to the mother or an unviable fetus.

But ex-dictator General Augusto Pinochet outlawed the practice completely before leaving power, and the prohibition remained unchanged during more than two decades of democratic rule because of pressure from the Roman Catholic Church and conservative groups.

WATCH: Chile’s Health Commission Approves Abortion Bill