Join us in Pittsburgh for our 28th annual Write-a-thon and Human Rights Festival on Dec 8th: http://amnestypgh.org/?p=34969

Women and Girls of El Salvador

THOUSANDS IMPRISONED AND TORTURED BY ABORTION BAN

In El Salvador, it doesn’t matter if you’re pregnant as a result of rape, or whether the pregnancy is a risk to your life: abortion is banned in all cases. If you have a miscarriage, you could be jailed for up to 50 years for aggravated homicide because the state suspects you of having a clandestine abortion.

María Teresa Rivera was a 28-year-old single parent working in a garment factory when she experienced the brutal impact of El Salvador’s abortion ban. In November 2011, unaware that she was pregnant, she felt the urgent need to use the toilet. Her mother-in-law found her bleeding on the bathroom floor and rushed her to the hospital where a member of staff reported her to the police. María Teresa had miscarried – but rather than being treated or counseled, she was arrested and charged. Deeply flawed evidence was presented by the prosecution, yet Maria Teresa was still convicted of aggravated homicide. In July 2012, María Teresa was sentenced to 40 years’ imprisonment.

With no proper education on sex and relationships and obstacles to accessing contraception, El Salvador has the highest teen pregnancy rate in Latin America. Furthermore, suicide accounts for 57 per cent of the deaths of pregnant females aged 10 to 19, though it is likely many more cases have gone unreported. All of the women imprisoned for abortion or miscarriage come from the poorest sectors of Salvadoran society.

There’s no denying it: El Salvador’s abortion ban is torture. It has no place in a modern El Salvador.