Chile is one of six countries that bans abortion even if a woman's life is in danger. In July, however, the country's MPs are expected to consider legalising it in certain circumstances. There has been speculation that Michelle Bachelet's election win in December could lead to a change in the law.

Bachelet took up her presidency in March vowing to rewrite the constitution. She is a socialist, former paediatrician and was the first executive director of UN Women, when it was created in 2010. However, some rights activists remain sceptical that Bachelet would tackle such a controversial issue so soon after taking office.

The president of the government's health committee, Marco Núñez, who takes over as head of parliament's lower house next year, said Bachelet's centre-left Nueva Mayoría bloc's majority in both parliamentary chambers offered a conducive environment for change.

Núñez, in Stockholm this week for the International Parliamentarians' Conference that is assessing progress on the implementation of 20-year-old targets on women's rights, said he was confident legislation that would allow abortion when a woman's life was at risk, in cases or rape or when the foetus was not viable, would be voted into law next year.

"For the first time in 20 years we have a real majority to make changes … We are going to start discussions in July. We have the majority to vote and pass the law in the lower chamber, but also in the senate," said Núñez, a former medical doctor.

"From an economic point of view, we have free trade agreements, we're reducing inequality now, and reducing poverty, but we still have a conservative constitution written under [Augusto] Pinochet. Conservative groups, especially the Catholic church, are pressing us to keep the status quo."

Núñez does not, however, underestimate the challenge advocates will face. In addition to the church and conservative groups, some politicians in Bachelet's ruling coalition are also expected to vote against the move, and the media is expected to take a pro-life stance. Núñez said the mainstream media tended to label politicians who speak out in favour of abortion.

"We have a huge battle. It's going to be a scandal. Some conservative MPs say they are pro-life and we are the messengers of death. That this is the first step towards total abortion and free sex for adolescents," Núñez said. But legalising abortion will bring Chile into the 21st century, he argues. "We have to stand up to these people and groups."

Preparations for Chile's first funeral for illegally aborted foetuses, in Vina del Mar

Karol Cariola, who was a key figure in the 2011 student protests in Chile and was elected to parliament in November, said changes to the abortion law were part of a package of reforms to improve women's sexual and reproductive health in the country.

"Society has pushed politicians to take this position [to overturn the abortion ban]," she said. "For too many years these topics were under the carpet. There has been a lot of mobilisation going on, especially among women."

Lilian Sepúlveda, director of the global legal programme at the Center for Reproductive Rights, welcomed the news. "Michele Bachelet has been a strong advocate for gender equality and women's access to reproductive health services. She understands that absolute bans on abortion threaten the lives of women and girls.

"While the proposed abortion law reform will not give all Chilean women the right to decide the timing and size of their families, it is a step in the right direction."

Chile's total ban on abortion was enshrined in the constitution in 1989 in one of Pinochet's final legislative acts. Previously, abortion had been allowed when a woman's life was at risk.

Globally, unsafe abortions account for the deaths of close to 50,000 women a year. Some 98% of unsafe abortions take place in poorer countries. According to the World Health Organisation, Latin America and Caribbean countries have the highest rates of unsafe abortions.

Chile's abortion ban was thrown into the international spotlight last year when thousands of activists marched through Santiago in support of an 11-year-old girl known as Belen who became pregnant after she was raped but was not allowed an abortion.

Last month, Ipas, an NGO that campaigns to prevent deaths from unsafe abortion, the International Planned Parenthood Federation, and the Center for Reproductive Rights called for the repeal of all laws on abortion and for the removal of barriers to access safe abortion services.

Liz Ford travelled to Stockholm with the European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development

• This article was amended on 9 May 2014. An earlier version incorrectly said that complications from illegal abortions performed in Chile accounted for about 40% of maternal deaths.