Continuities and breaks: The Chilean sexual and reproductive health policy in four governments

Abstract

Chile was the first Latin American country to address sexuality as a public issue (1967), following the installation of international family planning programs. Since then, public policy on sexual and reproductive health has followed a fluctuating trajectory, and different emphases and frameworks of interpretation can be identified: linked to demographic control, Catholic religion, public health and, more recently, human rights. Although the itinerary of this policy is more extensive, this article proposes a comparative analysis -from the review of political documents and interviews with key actors- on the initiatives undertaken by the last four governments (2000-2018), integrating a gender perspective. The purpose is to identify emphasis, continuities and ruptures, in each presidential term, in the guarantee of sexual and reproductive rights.