In El Salvador, the ban on abortion is absolutely intransigent. In the hope of shaking things up, some 2,000 women demonstrated in San Salvador on Sunday to demand the decriminalization of the voluntary termination of pregnancy and protest once morest feminicides.
In particular, they marched under the slogans “It’s my body, abortion is my right” or “No more patriarchal violence”, as International Women’s Day approaches on March 8. The protesters called for “the decriminalization of abortion in the country” in certain cases like rape or fetal malformations, “so that women are no longer imprisoned, unjustly criminalized for having undergone an obstetric emergency”, Morena said. Herrera, president of the Association of Citizens for the Decriminalization of Abortion.
A ban dating from 1998
Abortion has been banned in El Salvador since 1998, even in cases of rape or if the health of the mother or fetus is in danger. Terminating a pregnancy can land a woman in prison for up to eight years, but judges often find the accused guilty of “aggravated homicide”, punishable by 50 years in prison. Many women are also prosecuted following having sought medical help for complications during their pregnancy, because they are suspected of having attempted an abortion. At least a dozen women are currently serving various prison sentences for having abortions.
The protesters also called on the authorities to combat feminicides in the country. According to the Observatory on Violence once morest Women, 132 women were killed there in 2021, compared to 130 in 2020.
