President Michelle Bachelet was determined that the first state-of the-nation address of her second term in office on 21 May would set the tone for her mandate: ambitious and pro-active. The address covered a range of her government’s objectives in numerous spheres but what really excited comment was her determination to pass legislation to allow abortion in certain cases. There are few more sensitive issues than abortion in staunchly conservative Chile and Bachelet’s proposal was swiftly censured by both Chile’s Roman Catholic Church and the ultra-conservative opposition Unión Demócrata Independiente (UDI), the latter arguing that it was deliberately designed to distract attention from her government’s recent tax and education reform proposals, both of which were denounced by some 2,500 students and trade unionists gathered outside congress in Valparaíso.End of preview - This article contains approximately 1113 words.
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