A Salvadoran court sentenced a woman to 30 years in prison on Monday for having suffered a miscarriage that it said was involuntary.
The woman, mother of a seven-year-old girl, had a health emergency during her pregnancy in 2019 and sought care at a public hospital, but was reported and detained, according to Grupo Cidadão for the Decriminalization of Abortion.
The country is known for having one of the most draconian laws regarding abortion in the world, with women subject to punishment even for spontaneous losses and sentences that can reach 40 years – doctors who do not report attempts at the procedure are also targets of prosecution and convictions. . Termination of pregnancy is not allowed even in cases of rape or when the health of the pregnant woman is at risk.
This week, a judge sentenced the 28-year-old housewife, identified only as Esme for security reasons, after she was held in pre-trial detention for two years. It was the first such case in the last seven years, the organization said.
“(The decision) is a heavy blow on the way to overcome the criminalization of obstetric emergencies which, as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has already pointed out, must be treated as public health problems,” said Morena Herrera, president of the group, in a communicated.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled in November that the country violated the rights of a woman identified as Manuela, who was arrested for violating abortion laws and died while serving her 30-year sentence.
El Salvador has criminally prosecuted 181 women over the past 20 years who suffered obstetric emergencies, according to the abortion rights group.
Neither the Salvadoran attorney general’s office nor the communications office of the country’s judicial authority immediately responded to a Reuters request for comment.
Esme’s lawyers said in a statement that they would appeal the decision and noted that this was the first such conviction under President Nayib Bukele’s administration.
