Last time, I wrote about doing something for what you believe in, whatever that happens to be. Since then, I have been blown away by what I see being done by others, and I’m proud to share a few of those efforts here.

In my San Francisco Chronicle op-ed, I said that I thought a fight for reproductive rights, even in the most extreme cases, was so far off in Chile (where abortion remains illegal without exception) I wasn’t sure it would ever arrive. Part of me still believes that. But a Chilean woman had the right to a therapeutic abortion from the 1930s through 1989—and she was supported in that decision. Pinochet put across-the-board restrictions in place that have been upheld by subsequent governments. But I was alive in 1989, as were so many Chileans. Maybe, just maybe, they will fight for what they once had.

A pretty amazing woman on the streets of Santiago. She must remember it all.

My friend, Emily, recently published an informative, heart-felt blog post, inspired both by Lorenzo and our choice for him as well as her own feelings about abortion. She, too, is from the U.S. and living in Chile and is invested in both countries and their politics. I honor her for speaking out in a country where voices of dissent over this issue must travel far further than they do in the U.S. before reaching someone who understands. And I was thrilled to see how many people, from within and without Chile, spoke up in support of her, as I’ve been humbled by the overwhelming support I’ve received from Chronicle readers.

This morning, my friend Amanda, who is also from the U.S. and living in Chile, sent me a link to a petition to sign in support of therapeutic abortion here in Chile. If that is also what you believe in, I encourage you to do something by signing it as well so that the government here may see the numbers of people who do believe a change must be made.

Currently, that government is run by President Pinera, who this week praised an 11-year-old girl for wanting to keep the baby she conceived through being sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriend over a period of two years. (Never mind that she lives in a country where she cannot legally make any other choice.) Another government official, Congressman Issa Kort, has said that this child is ready to become a mother because her body is biologically capable of becoming one. I believe this mentality contributes further to the abuse of this child, first by her perpetrator, then by her complicit mother, and now by the highest members of the government that is supposed to protect her. This is the country I am living in.

For some time, I thought that things were better back home. But yesterday, despite the efforts of Senator Wendy Davis and her many supporters among Texas voters, the Texas House passed HB2, which will limit abortion to 20 weeks, force many clinics to close, and make access to healthcare all the more difficult for women in Texas, especially those living in rural poverty. The corresponding Senate bill is also expected to pass.

If we learn from history, Chile’s being a case in point, we know that one limitation often begets another. This could be the first in a slippery slope of regulations that will scale back abortion to being illegal all together, which scales women’s rights—human rights, constitutional rights—back to pre-Roe v. Wade 1960s’ America, a time when choices were limited to unsafe means. Yet, anti-abortion legislators in Texas and several other states uphold women’s health as a reason for these restrictions? Ladies, we are being duped. Just today, the New York Times reported that when it comes to an abortion, “Risks rise with the length, with one death occurring for every one million abortions in the first 8 weeks, one per 29,000 at 16 to 20 weeks and one per 11,000 in the small fraction of abortions performed at 21 weeks or more.” In 2008, the maternal mortality rate in the U.S. was 24 per 100,000—the highest rate of all.

And just once, I’d love for the often male government officials who propose this kind of legislation to accept responsibility, no matter what choice is made. No woman gets pregnant alone, but it’s implied that her abortion is a solo act. Why is she the only one shamed if she makes a certain choice? Why is it allowed to be shamed? Why is her life deemed less valuable than the life growing inside of her? The shaming needs to end so that when these decisions come down to an 11-year-old girl, she will not be praised for keeping a baby that has resulted from rape, but will be taken care of as the child SHE is, as the life SHE is, first and foremost, rather than the mother her perpetrator (and her government) is making her become.