El Salvadoran Woman Denied Pardon in 30-Year Sentence for Miscarriage

An El Salvadoran woman known as “Guadalupe” currently serving a 30-year sentence for a 2007 miscarriage has been denied a pardon. Guadalupe—who was convicted of murdering her unborn baby—was expected to be cleared on Friday by the El Salvadoran Congress. But after a nail biting 43-42 vote, her release was denied.

According to the blockbuster report by Tim Rogers over at Fusion, Guadalupe was taken to the nearest clinic after collapsing at work.

From Fusion:

All forms of abortion are illegal in El Salvador. And though there was no indication that Guadalupe, a mother of one, intentionally terminated her pregnancy, the doctors snitched her out to save themselves from any criminal liability.

Apparently Guadalupe is not the only one who suffers this fate:

At least 29 Salvadoran women are currently behind bars for having illegal abortions, but a dozen of them are still appealing their sentences in court. The 17 women for whom the #Las17 campaign is named have exhausted all judicial options and must appeal for a political pardon. For some hardline feminists, that was a hard pill to swallow since the concept of a pardon still implies guilt and doesn’t address the systemic injustice of the situation.