El Salvador tests law on abortion
Woman’s miscarriage retried
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — A young woman who birthed a baby into a toilet in El Salvador was back in court Monday facing a second trial for murder in a case that has drawn international attention because of the country’s highly restrictive abortion laws.
Evelyn Beatriz Hernandez had already served 33 months of her 30-year sentence when the Supreme Court overturned the ruling against her in February and ordered a new trial, with a new judge. It is the first retrial of an abortion case in a country that aggressively pursues legal cases against women who have experienced miscarriages and obstetric emergencies, accusing them of murder.
“I want justice to be done. I know everything is going to be OK. My faith lies with God and my lawyers,” Hernandez told journalists as she entered the courthouse, adding that she hopes for “good things, unlike what happened before, and I am innocent.”
Women’s rights advocates hope the new government of President Nayib Bukele, who took office in June, will soften the country’s stance on women’s reproductive rights — starting with an acquittal for Hernandez. Dozens of women have been jailed in El Salvador with similar convictions.
“What Evelyn is living is the nightmare of many women in El Salvador,” said her lawyer, Elizabeth Deras.
Hernandez says she had no idea she was pregnant, as a result of a rape. She recalls making her way to an outhouse in a poor, rural community one day in 2016 with strong abdominal pains. She squatted to defecate, she says, and the baby must have slid to the bottom of the septic tank. Evelyn’s mother says she found her daughter passed out next to the makeshift toilet and hailed a pickup to transport her to a hospital 30 minutes away.
The fetus was 32 weeks old — nearly full term — and forensic examiners weren’t able to determine whether the death occurred in the womb or in the outhouse. The cause of death remains unclear.
Both women insist they didn’t know there was a baby in the septic tank.
“I truly did not know I was pregnant,” Hernandez said Monday. “If I had known, I would have awaited it with pride and with joy.”
Prosecutors don’t believe them, though the Supreme Court accepted defense lawyers’ argument that no proof had been presented that Hernandez caused the baby’s death.
The Associated Press only identifies victims of alleged sexual assault by name if the victims themselves go public with the allegations.
The trial of Hernandez, 21, was set to begin Monday in what looks to be the first test for women’s reproductive rights under Bukele, who is young and has expressed disdain for all forms of discrimination.
Bukele has said he believes abortion is only acceptable when the mother’s life is at risk but that he’s “completely against” criminalizing women who have miscarriages.
“If a poor woman has a miscarriage, she’s immediately suspected of having had an abortion,” Bukele said in 2018. “We can’t assume guilt when what a woman needs is immediate assistance.”
Recent public opinion polls in El Salvador show broad support for more lenient abortion laws, such as allowing medical interventions when a mother’s life is in danger or the fetus is not viable. However, many Salvadorans still believe rape victims should be obligated to carry out their pregnancies.
An intervention on behalf of Hernandez would show that Bukele is “interested in the lives of women,” said Deras.
Bukele has not spoken publicly about the Hernandez case.
El Salvador is one of three countries in Central America with total bans on abortion, even in cases of rape and incest, or when the mother’s life is in danger.
Salvadoran law dictates up to eight years in prison for women who intentionally terminate a pregnancy, and for medical practitioners who assist them. However, aggressive prosecutors frequently upgrade the charges to aggravated homicide, which carries a maximum 40-year sentence.