Date: 21 January 2010
Source: Catholics for Choice
El Salvador has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world, resulting from the 1997 reform of the Penal Code to withdraw all legal grounds for abortion, including to save the life of a woman. The sentence is life imprisonment for anyone, including the woman herself, who induces an abortion. In 1999, El Salvador also amended its Constitution to recognise human life from the moment of conception. MCPR, an 18-year-old Salvadoran woman, sought help at a local hospital after having a miscarriage. Medical providers reported her to the police, and she was arrested for an alleged abortion and put in prison in July 2009. In October 2009, officials charged her with abortion and aggravated homicide and she faced up to 30 years in prison. Various human rights defenders, including Catolicas por el Derecho a Decidir (CDD) El Salvador, worked tirelessly on the case. On 15 January 2010, she was finally released.
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