Regional court faults El Salvador for denying a mother’s access to abortion, violating her rights

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SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — The Inter-American Court of Human Rights on Friday found El Salvador’s government responsible for violating the rights of a young Salvadoran woman who was denied an abortion of her anencephalic fetus in a country with a total ban on abortions.

The Costa Rica-based regional court said the government was responsible for obstetric violence, health violations and violating the physical integrity of the woman who had other health issues.

The court faulted a lack of protocols for high-risk pregnancies that led to her care being “bureaucratized and judicialized” in 2013. The woman, identified only as Beatriz, had requested and was denied an abortion early in her pregnancy. The fetus died hours after delivery.

The case had been brought by various organizations that demanded reparations for the woman’s family. She died after a traffic accident in 2017.

READ MORE: In Latin America, abortion access is expanding. Why is the U.S. moving in the opposite direction?

El Salvador’s government had argued that the medical team had autonomy to decide the best course of treatment and to preserve the life of the fetus.

The court ordered El Salvador to pay damages amounting to $75,000 to be divided among some of Beatriz’s relatives, including her surviving son.

The 2013 pregnancy was Beatriz’s second. She had already been diagnosed with lupus, an autoimmune disease, and rheumatoid arthritis among other illnesses. Her first pregnancy had been complicated as well, requiring two hospitalizations for herself and a 38-day hospital stay for her baby after birth.

During her second pregnancy, after the fetus was diagnosed as anencephalic — a congenital defect characterized by an underdeveloped brain and skull — a 15-person medical committee recommended her pregnancy be terminated at 14 weeks to avoid undue risks to the mother’s health, according to testimony before the court.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which sent the case to the court, said the response was that “legally it (abortion) is not permitted in the country.”

Morena Herrera, president of the Citizen Group for the Decriminalization of Abortion, said shortly before the decision was announced that a finding in favor of Beatriz would be “very important for women's human rights and especially their right to health.”

On the other side of the issue, Julia Regina de Cardenal, president of the Yes to Life Foundation, said she feared the decision would have a ripple effect in the region.

“What we're afraid of is that this is going to pressure not just our country to legalize abortion, but that it is going to pressure other Latin American countries too,” she said.

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