A teenager in El Salvador was sentenced to 30 years in prison for having a miscarriage in 2007, and her attempt to appeal her conviction has been denied.
An El Salvadoran prisoner,?using the alias?”Guadalupe,” who was only?18 at the time, had complications with her second pregnancy and was rushed to the hospital after collapsing at work. San Bartolo National Hospital, unfortunately, is a public health clinic, and they immediately notified the police when Guadalupe lost her baby.
In El Salvador, all forms of abortion are illegal and punishable with jail time. Even though there was no evidence that Guadalupe had intentionally lost her baby, the doctors turned her over to authorities in order to protect themselves from any criminal liability. According to the Latin Post:
“Guadalupe was interrogated in her hospital bed without a lawyer present and then sentenced to 30 years in jail to be labeled as a convicted murderer.”
There was hope, however, that Guadalupe might be pardoned for her “crime” and be released from prison. Salvadoran feminist leader and former FMLN guerrilla fighter told Fusion:
?Guadalupe could be released from jail as early as next week. This represents new hope for us. Now we’re going to have to fight to get pardons for the others on a case by case basis.?
Those hopes were dashed, however, when El Salvador’s congress came up one vote shy of the majority needed. Though Guadalupe had the support of the liberals, the conservative ARENA party voted almost wholly against the pardon, with only 42 voting in favor of a pardon.
A Facebook page dedicated to the women currently incarcerated in El Salvador for miscarriages posted the following after the ruling:
The post can be (roughly) translated as, “Public thanks to the 42 members who voted for the freedom of Guadalupe, by 1 vote she will not be able to come back to her family, now back to the committee for justice and human rights.”
For now, Guadalupe, who has already been in prison for eight years, remains behind bars for the crime of losing her baby to miscarriage. This is a horrifying reminder of what can happen when a country is ruled by a conservative party.
