El Salvador's Abortion Ban and its Deadly Impact on Women

By Marta Núñez. Translated by Lucía Marinas

In Latin America, not many countries give women the right to decide about their bodies. Most of them penalise the decision of terminating an unwanted pregnancy.  In fact, the exceptions are, Cuba, Uruguay, Mexico City and Oaxaca (Mexican state), Guyana, French Guiana and, very recently, Argentina. The abortion ban in El Salvador, in particular, has terrible consequences for women.

In March, The Center for Reproductive Rights, together with the Agrupación Ciudadana por la Despenalización del Aborto and el Colectivo Feminista have worked to expose the consequences of El Salvador’s abortion ban. They have filed two cases before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on behalf of nine women who had serious pregnancy complications and were wrongfully imprisoned.

EL SALVADOR: A BRIEF PROFILE

El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America and has one of the worst rates of femicide in the world, according to the United Nations. In the eighties, the country suffered a cruel civil war caused by the obscene inequality between the majority of people in poverty and a small wealthy group.

Whereas 67% of Salvadoran women said they have suffered some form of violence (e.g., sexual assault, abuse by family members), only 6% have reported abuse to authorities. In such an ocean of cruelty and violence, we will make sure that the voices of our Salvadoran sisters are heard.

The endemic violence that remains despite the end of the civil war, gave rise to gangs (“maras”) that extort residents and terrorise neighbourhoods. They recruit children using barbaric initiation rituals, and abuse women, girls, and LGBT people. Security forces have not been very effective protecting the population so far, and they also have used a violent approach, including secret executions, torture and enforced disappearances.

Interview with Sara García 

In this interview, we will focus on one of the so many injustices that Salvadoran women are suffering, the draconian abortion law that prevents women from accessing abortion under any circumstance—not even in cases of rape, incest, or to save a woman’s life. More than 25 women are in prison, some sentenced to up to 40 years, just for suffering miscarriages, stillbirths, or other pregnancy-related complications.

I have approached Sara García, Salvadoran feminist, activist, human rights fighter, and spokeswoman for the Agrupación Ciudadana por la Despenalizacion del Aborto, also known as “Las 17”. 

Marta Núñez (Filia) – What is the current abortion law in El Salvador?

Sara García (Las 17) – El Salvador penalises abortion under any circumstance. In 1997, the country changed its legislation, becoming an anti-model in this regard. Before, El Salvador allowed three causes that justified abortions: when the woman’s life is in danger, when the pregnancy is caused by social violence, and in cases of malformations incompatible with extra-uterine life.  

However, since the peace treaties were signed, this paradoxical regression was introduced. These treaties were the outcome of a long process, of a war that El Salvador suffered for 12 years (1980-1992) and left more than 75,000 people dead or missing. Within this context, the peace treaties are proposed and signed, along with penal code reform to ensure the penalties were rightfully enforced.

Marta – How paradoxical that women lost so much after a peace treaty…

Sara – Indeed, Marta. They were aiming for the penal code to guarantee the signed conditions, and our rights were lost on the way. On one hand, it was due to the pressure from conservative and “anti-rights” groups. Also, it generated a conservative alliance between the Catholic Church Hierarchy, the auto denominated “Yes to life” groups, and the extreme right. This conservative coalition started legislative changes even before the penalization of abortion. In fact, in 1993, El Salvador became the first country in Latin America to instate the Day of the Right to Be Born, on the 28th of December.

Marta – What social impact did this “consecration” of the new-born rights have?

Sara – It meant abortion became socially stigmatized. Later, in 1997, abortion was penalized completely in the Penal Code, made effective in 1998. Finally, in 1999 the Constitution was changed to recognise the start of life at the moment of conception.

Marta – Your group is part of the resistance. How did you start from questioning this legal setback?

© Sara García

Sara – “Agrupación Ciudadana” took off in 2009 after Karina Clímaco was freed. She was sentenced to thirty years in prison for the death of her new-born child. After seven years, and with the help of feminists from “Colectiva Feminista Salvadoreña”, it was proven that there was no homicide and the baby died at birth. Karina warned us there were many women serving sentences for this same reason, that were reported, pursued, and incarcerated. Since then, we started investigating.

In November 2009, we met with Nicaraguan feminists (as Nicaragua penalises abortion in the same way as El Salvador), and the Agrupación Ciudadana por la Despenalización del Aborto was formed. Three strategic points were laid down. First, to free the incarcerated women that, like Karina, are unjustly criminalised and deserve freedom. The second strategy proposes a societal change of mind, by building narratives to end the stigmatisation of abortion, talking about it on the streets, academia, and within communities. The third approach involves changing the laws that allow this to happen. We set out a plan to achieve the Penal Code modification to at least recover the three causes for abortion mentioned above.

Within the work we do as a group, what has brought us together the most has been the goal to free the unjustly imprisoned women. To this day, we have achieved the freedom of 45 women. This has been done through commutations or revisions of sentences, pardons, or penitentiary benefits.

Then, in 2014, the strategy of “Libertad para las 17” (Freedom for the 17) was born. It was inspired by a Mexican organisation called “Las Libres de Guanajauato” (The Free Ones from Guanajuato), who were pushing for the freedom of Mexican women imprisoned in similar circumstances.

Marta – I understand that Guanajuato is one of the sixteen Mexican states that made its abortion laws more restrictive in a backlash against the decriminalisation of abortion…

Sara – Exactly. We identified similar circumstances, and when “Las Libres” freed a group of women from prison, we set out to do the same. That was when we presented the request for pardon of 17 women. It was a crucial step, which shed light on a topic that was taboo in the El Salvador. More people, nationally and internationally, started to solidarize with this issue, and we started to form alliances. Also, we created a logo and a slogan: “Una flor para las 17, no dejemos que sus vidas se marchiten” (“A flower for the 17, don´t let their lives wither”).

Marta – What is the situation of the incarcerated women today?

Sara – There are nearly 25 women who have been criminalised and are being processed for the Salvadorean abortion ban. They have suffered obstetric emergencies, such as unassisted premature births or spontaneous abortions. We are following their cases and accompanying them and their families, as many of them are mothers and their children are left alone suffering their mothers’ absence. At the moment, we have proposed commutations of their sentences, and there are still some open cases. Also, in the pandemic we are following the habeas corpus strategy (requirement that an arrested person be brought before a judge or court before being detained or imprisoned) and fighting for the freedom of 14 women.

Marta – How are you raising awareness for these women to the public?

Sara – One of the main actions we are taking is to fully accompany these women and their families. Additionally, we protest in front of the Court buildings in important days such as the 8th of March (International Women’s Day), 25th of November (International Day of Elimination of Violence Against Women) or 28th of December (Day of the Right to Be Born). These demonstrations strongly draw attention to the laws that unjustly criminalise women. We also do campaigns in social platforms like Facebook or Twitter, which reach to other social groups. At a regional level, we offer education sessions, working with local organisations and feminist groups. And finally, at a national level, the political and legal strategies to defend women’s rights that I have already mentioned.

Marta – I am aware that the national instances are running out. What will you do now?

Sara – We are appealing to the Inter-American Human Rights System because the possibilities we had in El Salvador have been unsuccessful. In particular, we are addressing the Inter-American Human Rights Commission and the Inter-American Human Rights Court. We have imposed two lawsuits against the Salvadorean government for cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatments.

Marta – You have also exposed the symbolic case of Manuela in your banners, could you tell us about it?

© Sara García

Sara - Yes, it is a very important case. Manuela (a pseudonym) endured violence from the State at different levels. She was a pregnant 33-year-old Salvadorean mother of two. From the moment she arrived at the hospital seeking help because she was haemorrhaging and in-and-out of consciousness, the health staff treated her as if she had attempted an abortion. The doctors reported her assuming, out of prejudice, that the pregnancy was from infidelity, so it could not be a spontaneous abortion. Therefore, the abortion was treated as homicide, and she was moved to prison. There, it was discovered that Manuela had a lymphatic cancer which most likely caused the spontaneous abortion. She spent the last two years of her life bound to a bed and died without being able to see her children, who were left as orphans. She died totally abandoned from the State.

Marta – If the lawsuit is successful, what do you hope is obtained?

Sara – This case was presented to the Courts on the 10th and 11th of March 2021, and we do not know yet how long this process will last. First, we want repair measures for Manuela’s children and family. Then, a change of legislation so that this never happens to anyone again.

Marta – Thank you, Sara, for rising awareness and amplifying the voices of all the women who have been unjustly incarcerated. You can count on our support.

You can follow Las17 on Twitter here