These women say their babies were stillborn. Courts convicted them of homicide in a country with har

[Judi Lynn]

Teodora Vásquez was released from prison in 2018 after El Salvador's Supreme Court commuted her sentence.
Marvin Recinos/AFP/Getty Images

These women say their babies were stillborn. Courts convicted them of homicide in a country with harsh abortion laws

By Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN
Published 4:00 AM EDT, Sun October 8, 2023



CNN
—
A sign greets visitors arriving at a sun-filled two-story house in El Salvador’s capital.
“You must enter smiling,” it says. “Before you come in, you will find an invisible bag where you can leave your sorrows. When you leave, you can decide whether to take them with you.”

Teodora Vásquez knows the women seeking shelter, support or a fresh start here often have decades of sorrows weighing on them. And she’s propped up this sign beside a green plastic turtle near the front door as a first step toward the healing she hopes they’ll start to find within these walls.

It’s been 25 years since El Salvador made abortion illegal in all circumstances, eliminating any exceptions. And it’s been nearly as long since lawmakers passed a constitutional amendment declaring that life begins at conception.

Vásquez was among more than 180 women who advocates say were unjustly convicted of crimes after suffering obstetric emergencies, including miscarriages and stillbirths, in the years since the revised penal code and constitutional amendment went into effect. Activists warn that these women’s experiences show how dangerously far criminalizing abortion can go.

Vásquez was convicted of aggravated homicide and imprisoned for more than 10 years before El Salvador’s Supreme Court commuted her 30-year sentence in 2018.

More:
https://us.cnn.com/2023/10/08/health/el-salvador-abortion-homicide-convictions-cec/index.html