+
Sign up for
The Upworthiest
Our top stories of the day delivered straight to your inbox.
upworthy
More

The fact that women in Chile don't have a right to choose is disturbing — and so are these videos.

Wow.

TRIGGER WARNING: These videos, while fictional, are violent and somewhat disturbing to watch. They make an important point, but it's up to you to decide whether you wish to view them.

Chile has extremely restrictive abortion laws.

Currently, it's not legal under any circumstances to have an abortion in Chile. Dictator Augusto Pinochet enacted complete abortion prohibition in 1989 near the end of his rule.

Image by Miles Chile.

"Twelve bills [to decriminalise abortion] have been tabled in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate since 1991," Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said in January 2015 when a bill was introduced to allow women to terminate pregnancies up to the 12th week of pregnancy in cases of rape, where the mom's life is at risk, or when the fetus is so severely malformed that it wouldn't survive on its own.

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

Horrifyingly, the only way a woman can legally terminate a pregnancy in Chile is "accidental abortion."

Which is ... exactly what it sounds like.

A new campaign in Chile uses videos that depict the lengths some women will go to end a pregnancy when abortion is illegal.

The PSAs show women giving advice on how to legally terminate their pregnancies.

In this one, a woman is shown explaining how to terminate a pregnancy by throwing herself down the stairs.

"You can do this at home or at work, it doesn't matter. It's important that you find a long and steep set of stairs. Make sure there's not CCTV so that no one can see you. You must be alone. Only one person should know your whereabouts in case you end up unconscious. But hopefully you won't."

In another, a woman explains a different terrifying method of "accidental abortion" — intentionally stepping into traffic just as the light turns yellow and cars accelerate to beat the red. "Rumor has it that the faster they go, the lesser the reaction."

"Walk calmly by the traffic lights. Wait ... and when it's about to change yellow, pick the car most likely to speed up. Oh! Make sure the car hits you head on.
Stomach-bumper.
And cross the street."

Making therapeutic abortion legal is a step in the right direction.

Studies show that women will terminate pregnancies regardless of whether abortion is legal. The choice lawmakers in each country have to make is whether those seeking to terminate their pregnancies should be able to do so safely.

As upsetting as the videos are to watch, the point of the campaign is to encourage support for the new legislation that gives women an option for a therapeutic abortion. Visit Miles Chile to learn more about their work for women's rights.

It's a disturbing thought — a woman intentionally throwing herself down a flight of stairs or in front of traffic to end a pregnancy. But so is not having the option to do that medically and safely.

Community

Facebook group brings people together IRL to make meaningful friendships

True

Making new friends as an adult is challenging. While people crave meaningful IRL connections, it can be hard to know where to find them. But thanks to one Facebook Group, meeting your new best friends is easier than ever.

Founded in 2018, NYC Brunch Squad brings together hundreds of people who come as strangers and leave as friends through its in-person events.

“Witnessing the transformative impact our community has on the lives of our members is truly remarkable. We provide the essential support and connections needed to thrive amid the city's chaos,” shares Liza Rubin, the group’s founder.

Despite its name, the group doesn’t just do brunch. They also have book clubs, seasonal parties, and picnics, among other activities.

NYC Brunch Squad curates up to 10 monthly events tailored to the specific interests of its members. Liza handles all the details, taking into account different budgets and event sizes – all people have to do is show up.

“We have members who met at our events and became friends and went on to embark on international journeys to celebrate birthdays together. We have had members get married with bridesmaids by their sides who were women they first connected with at our events. We’ve had members decide to live together and become roommates,” Liza says.

Members also bond over their passion for giving back to their community. The group has hosted many impact-driven events, including a “Picnic with Purpose” to create self-care packages for homeless shelters and recently participated in the #SquadSpreadsJoy challenge. Each day, the 100 members participating receive random acts of kindness to complete. They can also share their stories on the group page to earn extra points. The member with the most points at the end wins a free seat at the group's Friendsgiving event.

Keep ReadingShow less
friendship
Democracy

This Map Reveals The True Value Of $100 In Each State

Your purchasing power can swing by 30% from state to state.

Image by Tax Foundation.

Map represents the value of 100 dollars.

As the cost of living in large cities continues to rise, more and more people are realizing that the value of a dollar in the United States is a very relative concept. For decades, cost of living indices have sought to address and benchmark the inconsistencies in what money will buy, but they are often so specific as to prevent a holistic picture or the ability to "browse" the data based on geographic location.

The Tax Foundation addressed many of these shortcomings using the most recent (2015) Bureau of Economic Analysis data to provide a familiar map of the United States overlaid with the relative value of what $100 is "worth" in each state. Granted, going state-by-state still introduces a fair amount of "smoothing" into the process — $100 will go farther in Los Angeles than in Fresno, for instance — but it does provide insight into where the value lies.

Keep ReadingShow less
money
Family

Woman bakes cheeky curse word pies for her grandma and it becomes a quirky holiday tradition

2023's pie is an homage to her favorite word to use while stuck in traffic.

Canva

You never know where a holiday tradition will come from.

Tried-and-true holiday traditions certainly have their merit, but there’s something quite special, magical even, about discovering personal rituals that commemorate one’s unique life. In my household, for instance, nothing quite rings in the Christmas spirit like sipping my partner’s delicious coquito and putting up a cardboard gingerbread house for my cats.

The beauty of creating customized holiday traditions is that they can be as festive, sentimental, or as silly as you want them to be. And you never know how one small moment can become the catalyst for a tradition that sparks joy year after year.

For Jess Lydon, that tradition is baking expletive-laden pies for Thanksgiving. (This is your profanity warning—the images below contain swear words.)

Keep ReadingShow less
humor
Education

3,700-year-old Babylonian stone tablet gets translated, changes history

They were doing trigonometry 1500 years before the Greeks.

via UNSW

Dr. Daniel Mansfield and his team at the University of New South Wales in Australia have just made an incredible discovery. While studying a 3,700-year-old tablet from the ancient civilization of Babylon, they found evidence that the Babylonians were doing something astounding: trigonometry!

Most historians have credited the Greeks with creating the study of triangles' sides and angles, but this tablet presents indisputable evidence that the Babylonians were using the technique 1,500 years before the Greeks ever were.

Keep ReadingShow less
education
Pop Culture

Pianist uses every part of the instrument in this joyous performance of Toto's 'Africa'

"Not sure I can comprehend what just happened! Unbelievable."

via Peter Benace/YouTube

Peter Bence's piano cover of "Africa" by Toto

Peter Bence’s performance of “Africa” by Toto has over 17 million views on YouTube because of his creative reimagining of the song and, well, just about everyone loves “Africa.”

Bence is a Hungarian composer and producer who has become a viral sensation for his Michael Jackson, Queen, Sia, and Beatles covers. He has over 1.1 million followers on YouTube and has toured the globe, playing in more than 40 countries across four continents.

His performance of “Africa'' is unique because it opens with him creating a rhythm track and looping it by strategically tapping the piano and rubbing its strings to create the sound of shakers and congo drums.

Keep ReadingShow less
music
Joy

Family posts a very chill note to neighbors explaining why their dog is on the roof

“We appreciate your concern but please do not knock on our door.."

via Reddit

Meet Huckleberry the dog.

If you were taking a stroll through a quiet neighborhood and happened to catch a glance of this majestic sight, you might bat an eye. You might do a double take. If you were (somewhat understandably) concerned about this surprising roof-dog's welfare, you might even approach the homeowners to tell them, "Uh, I'm not sure if you know...but there's a...dog...on your ROOF."

Well, the family inside is aware that there's often a dog on their roof. It's their pet Golden, Huckleberry, and he just sorta likes it up there.

Keep ReadingShow less
dogs
Family

12 hilariously relatable comics about life as a new mom.

Embarrassing stains on your T-shirt, sniffing someone's bum to check if they have pooped, the first time having sex post-giving birth — as a new mom, your life turns upside-down.

All illustrations by Ingebritt ter Veld. Reprinted here with permission.

Some good not so good moments with babies.



Embarrassing stains on your T-shirt, sniffing someone's bum to check if they have pooped, the first time having sex post-giving birth — as a new mom, your life turns upside-down.

Illustrator Ingebritt ter Veld and Corinne de Vries, who works for Hippe-Birth Cards, a webshop for birth announcements, had babies shortly after one another.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trending Stories