The Center for Reproductive Rights is releasing the English translation of its 2000 report entitled, Persecuted: Political Process and Abortion Legislation in El Salvador - A Human Rights Analysis that examines El Salvador's abortion law, one of the strictest in the world, and the circumstances surrounding its recent passage. Abortion continues to be a significant issue throughout Latin America; advocates are meeting this weekend in Rio de Janeiro to discuss a regional strategy for the decriminalization of abortion and safeguarding against new restrictions like those recently imposed in El Salvador.
The report shows that a year and a half after El Salvador's new abortion law took effect in 1998, 69 cases involving illegal abortions had been brought before courts. Most involved poor, under-educated, young women who self-induced abortions by using clothes hangers, ingesting very high doses of birth control pills, antacids, caustic liquids or cytotec pills. In 23 of the cases, hospital personnel turned the women over to police after they arrived for medical treatment following incomplete abortions.
"The entire debate on abortion in El Salvador failed to consider the effect this legislation would have on women's lives," says staff attorney Luisa Cabal. "By continuing to deny women their reproductive rights, women in El Salvador remain second-class citizens."
The law criminalizes abortion without exception, even to save the life of the pregnant woman or in cases of rape or incest. Abortion providers and women obtaining abortions face increased prison terms of up to 12 years. Legislators also amended El Salvador’s Constitution in January 1999 to protect the right to life from the moment of conception, further restricting women's reproductive rights.
The report denounces the role of the Catholic Church which influenced policymakers with such tactics as bussing Catholic schoolchildren to the capitol to stage anti-choice demonstrations. In addition, the media in El Salvador covered the pending legislation, but ignored the view of groups opposed to the anti-abortion measures.
Persecuted condemns the Salvadoran government for its willful violation of international human rights standards which protect a woman’s right to life, health, liberty and privacy, and makes strong recommendations for reform.
Facts about El Salvador
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The maternal mortality rate in El Salvador is one of the highest in the region - 300/100,000 births (World Bank).
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41.6% of Salvadoran women have their first child before the age of 20 (Salvadoran Ministry of Health).
Read the report:
