Human rights court begins review of high-stakes El Salvador abortion case

Record ID: 1716559

  • Title: Human rights court begins review of high-stakes El Salvador abortion case
  • Date: 22nd March 2023
  • Summary: SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA (MARCH 22, 2023) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS WITH PURPLE SIGN ALLUDING TO THE CASE OF BEATRIZ, SALVADORAN WOMAN WHO WAS DENIED AN ABORTION IN 2013 DESPITE DOCTORS' CALLS TO TERMINATE HER HIGH-RISK PREGNANCY, VS EL SALVADOR PLAQUE READING (Spanish): “INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS” JUDGES ENTERING COURT SALVADORA
  • Embargoed: 6th April 2023 00:16
  • Keywords: Beatriz El Salvador Inter-American Court of Human Rights abortion
  • Location: SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA
  • City: SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA
  • Country: El Salvador
  • Topics: South America / Central America,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001953922032023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The Inter-American Court of Human Rights on Wednesday (March 22) began hearing the historic case of a Salvadoran woman who was denied an abortion in 2013 despite doctors' calls to terminate her high-risk pregnancy.
    The case of the woman, a domestic worker known only as 'Beatriz' to protect her identity, became a symbol of El Salvador's blanket ban on abortion, which punishes with prison time those who undergo the procedure and those who perform or assist in it.
    Experts say the court's ruling at the end of the year could have far-reaching implications on reproductive health across the continent.
    "It fills us with a lot of satisfaction, a lot of joy, the hope that she will obtain the justice that she could not find in El Salvador," said Beatriz's brother, known only as 'Humberto' to protect the identity of the family.
    Doctors diagnosed Beatriz, who suffered from lupus and other ailments, with her second high-risk pregnancy in February 2013, and said the foetus would not survive the pregnancy.
    They recommended an abortion but would not perform the procedure given El Salvador's severe prohibition.
    Beatriz appealed to the Supreme Court and the IACHR, but the Salvadoran court rejected her request and in June 2013 she underwent a C-section.
    Her daughter died hours later.
    Beatriz died in 2017 from complications from a motorcycle accident that occurred en route to a medical appointment.
    The legal representative of Beatriz and her family, Gisela de Leon, said that what Beatriz went through violated her right to life and was also a form of "torture".
    The court's public hearing, which is being held in San Jose, Costa Rica until Thursday (March 23), was marked by both anti-abortion protests and demonstrations in support of Beatriz.
    (Production: Hector Guzman, Rodolfo Pena Roja, Gloria Lopez)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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