Chilean women fight against strict abortion laws with 'Termination Tips' videos

A series of satirical videos is making the rounds in Chile in women are seen giving other women advice on how to have "accidental abortions". The videos, called "Termination Tips," are being shared to fight abortion laws in the South American country.

Abortion in Chile has been illegal since 1989. Under current abortion laws, "accidental abortions" are the only abortions legally allowed. According to BuzzFeed News, the videos were created by Chilean NGO MilesChile, which hopes to demonstrate the dangers women can put themselves to have illegal abortions in the country.

Claudia Dides, director of MilesChile, told BuzzFeed News that it's time for Chile's government to lift the ban on abortion. "This campaign is provocative," Dides said, "but real women are indeed advised to fall from the stairs to self-induce a miscarriage."

In one of the videos, a woman advises pregnant women to cut off the heel of a new stiletto, walk down the street and purposefully twist their ankle on the broken heel and land on top of a fire hydrant. In another, a woman says women wanting to have an accidental abortion should throw themselves into traffic.

Dudes added, "Some women are told to leave the country and have an abortion somewhere else. In Chile, some abortive medicines like Misoprostol are sold in the clandestine market so women do not really know what they are consuming. They are at risk."

According to the BBC, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet announced in January a bill to partially legalise abortion, but only in cases of rape or when the mother's or baby's life is in danger.

"Facts have shown that the absolute criminalisation of abortion has not stopped the practice," Bachelet said at the time. "This is a difficult situation and we must face it as a mature country."

That bill is still being debated in Chile's Congress. According to BuzzFeed News, Chile is one of six nations where abortion is completely forbidden. The other nations are the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Malta, Nicaragua and the Vatican. Abortions in Chile are punishable by five years in jail, the BBC reported.

The videos by MilesChile have been watched nearly 600,000 times.