bad mother,
hussy… Manuela is one of 181 cases identified in El Salvador[1]
of women who suffered obstetric emergencies and were prosecuted with harsh prison sentences. In Manuela s case, the court found -without any evidence- that she had thrown her child into a latrine to cover up an alleged infidelity and thereby avoid public criticism. She was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for first-degree murder.
A significant number[2]
of countries in the world, including in Central and South America, are moving towards the -in most cases partial- decriminalisation of abortion, as seen recently in Chile, Argentina and Haiti. However, on the short but shameful list of countries that continue to criminalise abortion in all circumstances, in flagrant contravention of international human rights law, remain El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic (although this situation could soon be reversed in the Dominican Republic where the Criminal Code (
The US Supreme Court has agreed to consider a major roll-back of abortion rights, saying it will take up Mississippi's bid to enforce a 15-week ban on abortion.