Is Canadian government cash helping to back El Salvador’s harsh abortion law?

Is Canadian government cash helping to back El Salvador's harsh abortion law?
Federal funding supports prosecutors enforcing what some have called the most draconian abortion law anywhere

Evan Dyer · CBC News
Posted: May 30, 2019

In the end, Imelda Cortez's story was too much even for El Salvador's famously harsh courts. Her case was making news around the world, and DNA had confirmed that the newborn she was accused of attempting to murder was the product of rape by a 70-year-old stepfather who'd abused her throughout her childhood.

Cortez, 20, the daughter of a poor rural family, insisted she didn't know she was pregnant until she entered an outhouse and a child came out.

Continued: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/el-salvador-abortion-trudeau-ottawa-1.5153265

The 11-year-old Argentine girl is not alone. Latin America’s abortion laws are a form of torture.

The 11-year-old Argentine girl is not alone. Latin America’s abortion laws are a form of torture.

By Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International
March 5, 2019

When two gynecologists performed an emergency Caesarean section on an 11-year-old rape survivor at the Eva Perón public hospital in Tucumán, Argentina, last week, they saved the girl from a potentially fatal situation authorities should never have put her in — one that is all too common across Latin America.

The girl was reportedly raped by her grandmother’s partner and admitted to a hospital in January after discovering that she was 19 weeks pregnant. She and her mother promptly requested an abortion, which is legal in Argentina in cases of rape or when the woman or girl’s life or health is in danger. But the authorities repeatedly refused to practice an abortion, using a range of delay tactics for almost five weeks to effectively force her into carrying the pregnancy to term against her and her mother’s will.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/03/05/year-old-argentine-girl-is-not-alone-latin-americas-abortion-laws-are-form-torture/?utm_term=.79a6ec2f2eab

Addressing stigma while moving a national campaign – Spotlight on El Salvador

#OjosEnElSalvador #EyesOnElSalvador

Posted January 29, 2019
by inroads Comms, with Sara García Gross

As 2018 came to a close, the feminist and social movements of El Salvador had a great victory, one which inspired activists across the world. For years, ever since a 1998 penal code harshened laws even more to ban abortion under any circumstance, Salvadoran feminist activist groups have been fighting to end the criminalization and stigmatization of abortion in their country, which is one of 26 countries in the world where abortion is completely prohibited without exceptions. After years of sexual abuse from a family member, Imelda Cortez became pregnant, and then gave birth outside of the hospital. For this, she was accused of attempting an abortion and then jailed. There, she awaited trial under attempted murder charges for almost two years. This is not uncommon, and there are still 25 women in El Salvador who remain incarcerated for having pregnancy complications, appearing to have an abortion, and for circumstances related to reproductive health. But after a generation of strategizing and organizing; collective direct actions appealing to the Attorney General; and leveraging the call to #SalvemosAImelda in a wide reaching international campaign; organizers were able to achieve a hard fought victory for justice in December 2018. Imelda Cortez was free.

Continued: http://makeinroads.org/making-inroads/2019/January/ojosenelsalvador-eyesonelsalvador

29.01.2019

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Salvadoran woman accused of trying to abort rapist’s baby freed

Salvadoran woman accused of trying to abort rapist's baby freed
Imelda Cortez was freed after judge acquitted her of lesser charges in a case that tested country's strict abortion ban.

by Anna-Cat Brigida
Dec 17, 2018

A Salvadoran rape survivor accused of attempting to abort her abuser's baby was released on Monday after a judge found her not guilty on reduced charges in a case that tested the country's strict enforcement of a total ban on abortion.

Twenty-year-old Imelda Cortez became pregnant in 2016 after years of being raped by her 70-year-old stepfather. In April 2017, she gave birth to a baby girl in the toilet. At the time, she did not know she was pregnant, Cortez said. When she went to the hospital, a doctor accused her attempting to have an abortion and reported her to authorities.

Continued: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/salvadoran-woman-accused-abort-rapists-baby-freed-181217210720217.html

El Salvador’s Abortion Ban Means A 20-Year-Old Sexual Assault Survivor Is Facing Decades In Prison

El Salvador's Abortion Ban Means A 20-Year-Old Sexual Assault Survivor Is Facing Decades In Prison

By Sarah Friedmann
Nov 14, 2018

In El Salvador, abortion is illegal in all circumstances — and women who undergo the procedure can face steep criminal penalties. The country's law has always been highly controversial and, once again, El Salvador's abortion ban is sparking renewed outrage worldwide.

This outrage stems from the prosecution of a 20-year-old Salvadoran woman, Imelda Cortez, who was charged with attempted murder after giving birth to her rapist's child. The rapist is the woman's stepfather, who, according to the Citizen Group for the Depenalisation of Abortion (via Aljazeera), has been charged with aggravated sexual assault of a minor.

Continued: https://www.bustle.com/p/el-salvadors-abortion-ban-means-a-20-year-old-sexual-assault-survivor-is-facing-decades-in-prison-13139772

El Salvador – Imelda Cortez: Raped woman faces 20 years in jail for trying to abort her attacker’s baby

Imelda Cortez: Raped woman faces 20 years in jail for trying to abort her attacker's baby
'Imelda is being treated as a criminal, not as a victim of sexual violence,' lawyer says

Zamira Rahim
Nov 12, 2018

A young woman in El Salvador who fell pregnant after being repeatedly raped from the age of 11 by her stepfather could face up to two decades in jail for allegedly attempting to abort his child.

Imelda Cortez became pregnant at the age of 18 and denies trying to abort the baby, which is a crime under any circumstances in El Salvador.

continued: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/imela-cortez-raped-abortion-el-salvador-baby-custody-jail-a8629766.html

Woman who bore rapist’s baby faces 20 years in El Salvador jail

Woman who bore rapist’s baby faces 20 years in El Salvador jail
Imelda Cortez, 20, faces trial in country where abortion is illegal under all circumstances

Nina Lakhani
Mon 12 Nov 2018

A rape victim is facing 20 years in jail charged with attempted murder, after she gave birth to her abuser’s baby in a latrine in El Salvador.

In a case that highlights the rigidity of the country’s abortion laws, Imelda Cortez, 20, from an impoverished rural family in San Miguel, has been in custody since April 2017 after giving birth to a baby girl fathered by her abusive elderly stepfather.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/nov/12/victim-who-bore-abusers-baby-in-a-latrine-jailed-for-20-years-in-el-salvador-imelda-cortez