https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/apr/03/lawmakers-el-salvador-race-to-overturn-abortion-ban
Currently in El Salvador, abortion is banned under all circumstances since 1998. If women are accused of having an abortion, they are charged with aggravated homicide and could receive up to 50 years in jail. The medical professionals who assist the women with their abortions, while under this ban of abortions, would be jailed as well. In August of 2017, a bill was proposed which would legally allow abortion in some cases if it is passed. However, if lawmakers don’t move quickly the ban on abortion in El Salvador may stay due to a more conservative group potentially coming into power next election.
Johnny Wright Sol from the conservative party proposed the bill that would legalize abortion in cases where the mother’s life is endangered or a minor was raped, which is what the law was before 1998. However, in 1998 the constitution recognized life beginning at conception, hence the current law banning abortion. Despite Wright stating this would be the best time for this bill since it could receive the required 43-vote majority before the change in political power, his conservative ARENA party does not back him on this proposal. Wright says that El Salvador has a very paternalistic culture which is why they don’t have much say.
Women who have had miscarriages or still births have been sent to jail under the charge of aggravated murder, associated with abortion, for 30 plus years. There are currently dozens of women in jail who were falsely charged with abortions and all women want to change the law, but as women in this paternalistic culture, they are never listened to. Lorena Peña is also pushing a proposal close to this but it is less likely to pass. However, Peña says that if the reform is not approved in April, they need to continue trying because they can’t stay silent for another decade with such an important and life-compromising issue.
Latin America has the highest annual rate of abortion in the world with 44 women out of 1,000 having abortions. Also, about 7 million women in developing countries must receive treatments for complications and 47,000 women die due to the unsafe abortions they must have since abortion is illegal in most Latin American countries. Fortunately, several Latin American countries are starting to lift the ban on all abortions and are allowing them in cases of rape or where the life of the mother will be compromised.
I hope that El Salvador does pass this bill that allows women to have abortions in cases where the life of the mother will be compromised or where the woman was raped. I feel that if the mother wants to abort the baby, they will do it one way or another so why not try to keep their life safe in the process rather than leaving both the mother and unborn child to die. I feel that the jail sentences up to 50 years for an abortion is ridiculous because the mother is the one who would have to care for the child and in a developing country she may struggle to do so, therefore, she should have the choice to have that child or not. The fact that women have served full or even half sentences of fifteen years plus for after being convicted for aggravated murder when they had a miscarriage or still birth breaks my heart. Not only did those women have to suffer the tragic loss of their child, they were torn from the rest of their children or family and sent to jail for years for a “crime” they didn’t even commit. I am in full support of this bill allowing women the right to choose what they want to do with their bodies and unborn children under these horrendous circumstances, and I hope that the rest of El Salvador will vote to allow these women to have the right and choice that they deserve.
Works Cited
Welsh, Teresa. “’It’s Time-Critical’: the Race to Overturn Abortion Ban in El Salvador.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 3 Apr. 2018, www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/apr/03/lawmakers-el-salvador-race-to-overturn-abortion-ban. Accessed 8 Apr. 2018.
Pena, Alex. Salvadoran Women Protest for the Abortion Ban to Be Overturned during a One-Day Strike to Defend Women’s Rights on International Women’s Day. Getty Images. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/apr/03/lawmakers-el-salvador-race-to-overturn-abortion-ban#img-1. Accessed 8 Apr. 2018.