The Culture Wars Come to Chile

Conservatives and liberals square off over personal freedom and personal happiness.

Her economics may be pretty conventional, but in the social sphere, Chile's agnostic, no-longer-married-mother president Michele Bachelet is revolutionizing this traditionally conservative Catholic country. The government is tackling the problem of teenage pregnancy by handing out morning-after pills to 14-year olds without their parents' permission. A bill to allow terminally-ill patients to choose a "merciful death" was recently introduced to the legislature, and there is growing momentum behind calls for a civil-union law that would extend the legal benefits of marriage to gay and unwed heterosexual couples. The legal system is struggling under the weight of divorce suits — Chile only legalized divorce in 2004. In a society traditionally ruled by men, the president and half of her cabinet are women.