Jailing of a mentally ill woman exposes El Salvador's tough abortion laws - rights group
Jailing of a mentally ill woman exposes El Salvador's tough abortion laws - rights group
Tue, 23 Oct 2012 15:11 GMT
Source: trustlaw // Anastasia Moloney
By Anastasia Moloney
BOGOTA (TrustLaw) – A judge’s decision to jail a mentally ill woman for inducing an abortion in El Salvador highlights the country’s draconian abortion laws that are among the worst in Central America, a reproductive rights group says.
Mery, 27, ended up in hospital after suffering complications from a self-induced abortion seven months ago. Hospital staff diagnosed her with mental health problems and also reported her to the police, the Center for Reproductive Rights said.
In August, she was sentenced to two years in prison for inducing an abortion under El Salvador’s laws which ban abortion under all circumstances - even in cases of rape, incest, or when the woman's life is in danger or if the foetus is severely deformed.
“El Salvador has the worst abortion laws in Central America and the region. The country’s absolute ban on abortion has led to the arbitrary imprisonment of women suffering from miscarriages and complications in their pregnancies,” Alejandra Cardenas, Latin America legal adviser for the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, told TrustLaw.
More:
http://www.trust.org/trustlaw/news/jailing-of-a-mentally-ill-woman-exposes-el-salvadors-tough-abortion-laws-rights-group
