When Abortion Is a Crime
Manuela had a miscarriage. Then a far worse tragedy began.
09.22.14 - In 2010, Manuela, a young mother from a rural area of El Salvador, died in prison two years into a 30-year sentence. Her crime? Not successfully carrying her third child to term.
Manuela (not her real name) was reported on suspicion of abortion by the physician from whom she had sought emergency care after experiencing a traumatic miscarriage—probably due to what doctors would later discover as late-stage Hodgkin’s lymphoma. El Salvador has a total ban on abortion.
Unable to afford a lawyer, Manuela was swiftly and wrongfully convicted of murder. And she’s only one of hundreds of women in El Salvador who have been accused of the crime of abortion but convicted instead of homicide.
Not one more woman should have to suffer Manuela’s fate. Instead of allowing governments to treat pregnant women as criminals, we must ensure they are treated with dignity and that they have access to the reproductive health care that is their human right.
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