Prior to the decision, the contraceptive, know as the "morning-after pill" was available for free only in cases of rape. For the last five years, it has also been available at private pharmacies for those who could afford it.

The morning-after-pill can be taken up to three days after intercourse and can prevent pregnancy in most cases, according to medical journals.

"We applaud the decision of the Chilean Health Ministry, because we believe it safeguards the rights of women," said Ximena Rojas, assistant director of the Center for the Development of Women, reported the Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency.

Opponents of a woman's right to choose abortion have attacked the government's decision.

According to IPS, Francisco Errázuriz, the Catholic archbishop in Chile's capital, Santiago, considered "the decision by the center-left government a blow to marriage, the birth rate, and the Chilean family."

The national conference of bishops condemned the government's decision for attempting "to regulate the intimate lives of its citizens."

Mayors in districts controlled by opposition parties have rejected the decision, and have threatened to ban distribution of the pill in their areas.

The government has defended the measure. Ricardo Lagos, a government spokesman, said that sales of the pill "are perfectly legal today, in the eyes of the court." But only those who can afford it have access to it.

Abortion is illegal in Chile. Those undergoing the procedure can be penalized with three to five years in jail; those performing it, 15 months to five years. An estimated 160,000 abortions are performed every year there, and nearly 10 percent of women involved die of complications, according to Chile's Health and Sexual and Reproductive Rights Network.

Government officials have said that decriminalizing abortion is not on the agenda. "We are not going to do absolutely anything in this area, which is not part of our governing program," said Health Minister María Barría, according to the December 17 New York Times. When asked why, Barría replied, "We are in a coalition." She was referring to the governing alliance made up of Bachelet's Socialist Party and the Christian Democrats.

In November, Chile's National Congress voted 61-21 not to discuss a bill that would have allowed abortions when the pregnancy put a woman's life at risk or in cases of rape.

Throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, abortion is legal only in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Guyana.  
 
 
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