International court could press El Salvador to change abortion ban

About seven months into her pregnancy, Manuela passed out at her family home in a rural part of Morozán in northeast El Salvador. Some banners at events like International Women’s Day say “Manuela justicia y esperanza” — Manuela justice and hope. The documents detailing Manuela’s sentencing stated that she had the “ability to choose between having, taking care of it and living for it like any biological mother would naturally do” but instead “opted for behavior that goes against nature itself.” Martínez said the language speaks to a gender stereotype, in which — “even in the face of death” — a woman’s “highest function is to sacrifice herself in the name of reproduction.” Elizabeth Urías, an attorney on El Salvador’s legal team, maintained that breaking doctor-patient confidentiality in the maternity ward is necessary to “protect boys and girls,” including the unborn. “That’s something I do think we can combat.” The Manuela case, like the landmark Roe vs. Wade case of 1973 in the U.S., could have a major impact on El Salvador’s abortion policies. The Catholic News Agency, for instance — which produces content in five languages for distribution in more than 100 countries — warned that the case could “give the green light to abortion in El Salvador.”