El Salvador lawmakers overwhelmingly reject challenge to country’s complete abortion ban

OCTOBER 21, 2021
AFP

San Salvador — El Salvador's Congress voted on Wednesday to uphold the country's complete abortion ban, ruling against terminations even in exceptional circumstances. Salvadoran law prohibits the procedure in all cases — punishable by up to eight years in prison.

Prosecutors and judges classify some cases of abortion, even involuntary ones, as "aggravated homicide," punishable by up to 50 years in prison.

Continued : https://www.cbsnews.com/news/el-salvador-abortion-ban-upheld-by-congress/


Salvadoran president rules out allowing abortion, same-sex marriage

Sept 17, 2021

SAN SALVADOR, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said on Friday a raft of constitutional reforms the government will send soon to Congress will not contain decriminalization of abortion, legalization of same-sex marriage or steps to permit euthanasia.

The package of planned measures Bukele received this week from Vice President Felix Ulloa includes the extension and possible early termination of the presidential term and the creation of a new body to replace the electoral tribunal.

Continued: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/salvadoran-president-rules-out-allowing-abortion-same-sex-marriage-2021-09-17/


Activists Say Romania Has Been Quietly Phasing Out Abortion

September 1, 2021
LUCÍA BENAVIDES

Daniela Draghici knows firsthand what an abortion ban looks like.

In 1976, when she was a college student in the Romanian capital of Bucharest, she got pregnant after her contraception failed. Abortion was prohibited in Romania.

With the help of a friend, Draghici was taken to a woman with no medical training to end her pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/2021/09/01/1021714899/abortion-rights-romania-europe-women-health


I was a walking grave: women describe impact of Malta’s abortion ban

Healthcare professionals feel helpless, unable to provide adequate care

Aug 9, 2021
Sarah Carabott

Maria* spent the last months of her pregnancy knowing the foetus she carried inside of her had an inverted heart and a hernia that had spread to its stomach.

Her obstetrician had told her the body would probably self-abort and there was nothing they could do in the meantime.

Continued: https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/i-was-a-walking-grave-women-describe-impact-of-maltas-abortion-ban.892069


Why it is vital to decriminalise abortion: the case of Malta

July 2, 2021
By Claire Pierson, University of Liverpool
Liza Caruana-Finkel, University of Liverpool and The Conversation

If accessing abortion in countries where it’s
criminalised wasn’t hard enough before the pandemic, lockdowns and COVID-19
travel restrictions have made the process that much more difficult.

In fact, the issue became so pronounced at the start of the pandemic that the
European parliament and the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights
called on member states to guarantee safe and timely access to abortion.

Continued: https://canadianinquirer.net/2021/07/why-it-is-vital-to-decriminalise-abortion-the-case-of-malta/


San Marino women struggle to legalize abortion

Claudia Torrisi
June 21, 2021

For months in the Republic of San Marino, a group of women worked tirelessly for a referendum that could lead to a historic turning point: legalizing abortion in the country. The small state of about 33,000 inhabitants between Emilia-Romagna and Marche is one of the very few in Europe – together with Malta, Gibraltar, Andorra, Vatican City and Poland, which recently introduced an almost total ban – in which to terminate a pregnancy. it is a crime.

The penal code provides for a sentence of three to six years of imprisonment – for the woman who has an abortion and for anyone who participates – regardless of the reasons for the choice: even in the case of rape or serious fetal malformations.

Continued: https://breakinglatest.news/news/san-marino-women-struggle-to-legalize-abortion-claudia-torrisi/


Sara Rogel: El Salvador frees woman accused of abortion

June 8, 2021

A woman in El Salvador who was sentenced to 30 years in prison after being accused of terminating her pregnancy and violating the country's strict abortion laws has been freed.

Sara Rogel was arrested nine years ago at the age of 20 after being taken to hospital with bleeding which she blamed on a fall at home.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-57384064


Salvadoran woman sent to prison for abortion in 2013 released

La Prensa Latina
June 7, 2021

San Salvador, Jun 7 (EFE).- A Salvadoran woman serving a 30-year prison term for allegedly aborting the fetus she was carrying was released on Monday after the Attorney General’s Office decided not to overturn the conditional release granted her by a court.

The Public Ministry reported Friday that it
would not appeal the ruling because “there are no elements on which to base the
said appeal, since it fulfills all the requirements to provide her with the
benefit (of conditional release).”

Continued: https://www.laprensalatina.com/salvadoran-woman-sent-to-prison-for-abortion-in-2013-released/


Dominican Republic: End Total Abortion Ban

Lawmakers Should Enact Proposed Criminal Code Reform

April 22, 2021
Human Rights Watch

(Washington, DC) – The Congress of the Dominican Republic should adopt a proposal to decriminalize abortion in three circumstances as a matter of urgency, Human Rights Watch said today. The country’s total abortion ban, in effect since 1884, threatens women’s health and lives and is incompatible with its international human rights obligations.

Abortion is illegal in the Dominican Republic even when a pregnancy is life-threatening, unviable, or the result of rape or incest. A proposal being debated by Congress would decriminalize abortion in these cases.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/04/22/dominican-republic-end-total-abortion-ban


The fight against Dominican Republic’s total abortion ban intensifies after polarizing decision

Criminalizing abortions is “causing an increase in maternal mortality and morbidity, which places us as one of the countries with the worst health indicators," one medical professional said.

April 14, 2021
By Nicole Acevedo

A promise made on the campaign trail and not kept has now sparked a month of daily protests in the Dominican Republic, one of two dozen nations in the world with a ban on abortions under all circumstances — even when a woman's life is at risk.

Hundreds of women and reproductive-rights advocates began gathering every day outside the executive mansion of President Luis Abinader in mid-March, after Dominican lawmakers failed to decriminalize abortion when a woman's life is in danger, the pregnancy is not viable or in cases of rape or incest.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/fight-against-dominican-republic-s-total-abortion-ban-intensifies-after-n1263978