El Salvador – When Abortion Bans Are Too Popular to Overturn

A court may soon rule against El Salvador’s anti-abortion law. But will that make a difference?

APRIL 24, 2023
By Anna-Catherine Brigida

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador—Alba Lorena Santos had just returned home from running errands when her headache began. She saw blood running down her legs. She was five months pregnant.

Santos told her daughter to call their neighbor, a relative by marriage, for help. She fainted shortly after. When she woke up, she remembers the neighbor telling her the baby—a boy—had died.

The next day the neighbor returned and said the police were there to ask some questions. Still sick and feverish, Santos said she was put into a police car and asked: “Why did you kill him? Not even dogs do that.”

Continued:  https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/04/24/abortion-bans-popular-el-salvador-latin-america/


El Salvador: Court Hears Case on Total Abortion Ban

Inter-American Court Ruling Could Set Precedent in Latin America and the Caribbean

March 23, 2023

(Washington, DC) – An Inter-American Court of Human Rights hearing on the case of Beatriz, who was denied an abortion by El Salvador despite her high-risk pregnancy, will highlight the dire consequences of a law that completely bans abortion and is an opportunity for a step forward in the protection of reproductive rights in the region, Human Rights Watch said today.

“This is the first time the Inter-American Court will discuss the consequences of the total criminalization of abortion,” said Cristina Quijano Carrasco, women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Its ruling on El Salvador, which has some of the world’s strictest anti-abortion laws, would set a precedent in Latin America and the Caribbean when it comes to abortion if a women’s life is in danger or if a fetus cannot survive outside the womb.”

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/03/23/el-salvador-court-hears-case-total-abortion-ban


Global Anti-Abortion Coalition Targets the Organization of American States

The conservative backlash against efforts to expand sexual and reproductive rights in the Americas threatens a dangerous regression in human rights.

Lynn M. Morgan
June 4, 2021

It has been a good year for Latin American sexual and reproductive rights movements. Costa Rica became the first Central American country to legalize same-sex marriage in May 2020, and Argentina legalized abortion in December 2020. The Biden-Harris administration moved quickly in 2021 to rescind former President Trump’s Mexico City policy, also known as the global gag rule; disband former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s Commission on Unalienable Rights; and renounce the Geneva Consensus Declaration, which included the assertion that there is “no international right to abortion.” Optimists note a wave of support for sexual and reproductive rights in Mexico, Chile, Colombia, and elsewhere in the hemisphere.

Continued: https://nacla.org/news/2021/06/04/global-anti-abortion-coalition-targets-organization-american-states


El Salvador’s abortion ban jails women for miscarriages and stillbirths – now one woman’s family seeks international justice

Juliet S. Sorensen, Alexandra Tarzikhan, Meredith Heim
March 15, 2021

(THE CONVERSATION) El Salvador outlaws abortion completely, even in circumstances of rape or incest, with penalties ranging from two to 50 years. The abortion ban is so broadly enforced that even women who suffer miscarriages and stillbirths can be prosecuted for murder.

Now an international court will decide for the first time whether these laws violate the human rights of Salvadoran women.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/el-salvadors-abortion-ban-jails-women-for-miscarriages-and-stillbirths-now-one-womans-family-seeks-international-justice-156484


In Honduras, the Right Is Permanently Locking in Its Abortion Ban

BY SUYAPA PORTILLO
Jacobin Magazine, March 1, 2021

In a country
that is already home to some of the worst restrictions on women’s rights, the
Honduran Congress voted last month to lock in its bans on abortion and gay
marriage, making them almost impossible to overturn. It’s a reminder that, as
the feminist green tide washes over much of Latin America, there is still much
work to be done.

On January 28, on the heels of Honduran Women’s Day (January 25), the far-right
Nationalist Party–led Congress dealt a blow to feminists, LGBT people, and
countless Hondurans who believe in equality and human rights. With little
notice and virtually no public input, the Congress voted to amend the constitution
by enshrining the “right to life at conception” and by instituting a narrow
definition of marriage as “between a man and a woman.” Rushing the vote along
partisan lines, normal rules of procedure were suspended, and even advocates
closely following these issues were blindsided by the alacrity of the
fundamental change to the nation’s most important document.

Continued: https://jacobinmag.com/2021/03/honduras-abortion-ban-constitutional-amendment


Honduras hardened its abortion ban. These women remain undeterred

Honduran Congress put a lock on decades-old ban on abortion weeks after Argentina legalised it in landmark decision.

By Natalie Alcoba
7 Feb 2021

In the days since the Congress of Honduras hardened its absolute prohibition of abortion, the ranks of a feminist organisation that has been campaigning for decriminalisation in the staunchly conservative nation have been swelling.

The new recruits to the women’s rights group, Somos Muchas, are mostly young women between the ages of 18 and 30 who have been moved into action by recent events. For local activists, it is a sign that change is still possible in a country with some of the most severe restrictions on abortion in the world.

Continued: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/7/honduras-hardened-abortion-ban-these-women-remain-undeterred


Argentina’s lower house approves bill legalizing elective abortion

In a landmark move, Argentina's lower house has passed a law to legalize elective abortion. The bill still needs approval from the predominantly Catholic country's traditionally conservative Senate.

11.12.2020
Deutsche Welle

Argentina's lower house of Congress on Friday approved a bill to legalize elective abortion  to the 14th week of pregnancy, sending the proposal to the Senate, which rejected a similar bill two years ago.

The draft bill was passed with 131 votes in favor, 117 against and six abstentions. The bill still needs approval from the country's Senate in a debate expected before the end of 2020.

Continued: https://www.dw.com/en/argentinas-lower-house-approves-bill-legalizing-elective-abortion/a-55910443


Human Rights Watch: Testimony at the Argentine Congress on decriminalization of abortion

Testimony at the Argentine Congress on decriminalization of abortion
hHuman Rights Watch
June 12, 2018

Dear Congressmen,

Thank you for the invitation to appear before the Argentine Congress to discuss the decriminalization of abortion in the country.

The purpose of my presentation is to present a review of international human rights standards and comparative law that we hope the Argentine Congress will take into account when deciding on the decriminalization of abortion. Human Rights Watch considers the decriminalization of abortion to be a key advancement for women's human rights and a necessary step for Argentina to comply with its international obligations.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/06/12/testimony-argentine-congress-decriminalization-abortion