“A girl who is going to want to be a mother. She is innocent”: They lose their babies, end up in jail in El Salvador

Since the late 1990s, in The Savior There is a total ban on abortion, including in cases of rape, incest, malformation of the fetus, and when the life of the mother is in danger.

Not only abortions are punished. Also sometimes miscarriages, stillbirths and other complications can land women in jail. And the sentences can be long.

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In general, the most affected women are poor, from rural areas.

The Associated Press spoke with several women who were in jail. Some belong to the group Mujeres Libres –which offers job search support and workshops on how to open small businesses– and others to the nonprofit Citizen Group for the Decriminalization of Abortion. ).

Some asked to be identified only by their first names to protect their privacy and avoid possible retaliation and the stigma associated with abortion. One of them was the victim of multiple rapes.

These are their stories:

CINTHIA

Cinthia Rodríguez, 33, gave birth to a stillborn baby at home in 2008. Her family called an ambulance, but police showed up and took her to a hospital where she was chained to a stretcher. The agents told him that she was in custody, on suspicion of having caused an abortion. She was later charged with aggravated murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

“My dream was to study, work, help my family, see my baby”, express. “And all that was frustrated when I heard about the 30 years. That’s where my world stopped.”

The guards advised her not to reveal why she had been sentenced. When other inmates found out about her, they beat her up. “The Mataniños told us.”

A tattoo on her hand reminds her of the date her father died, in 2014, while she was in jail. She was released after 11 years in prison, when her sentence was commuted in 2019.

Rodríguez hopes her story will help other women regain their freedom and end the rigid anti-abortion policy.

While she was speaking, two friends who were also imprisoned for the same reason were playing with their little daughter.

“I will always be supporting her”Rodriguez said. “And also that she join me and the other compañeras in this fight that is taking place. And that she be an independent and fighting woman… like her mom.”

Cinthia Rodriguez holds her baby in a plaza in San Salvador. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski/)

ZULEYMA

Zuleyma Beltrán was expecting her second child in 1999 when she felt severe pain and fainted. She lost the baby. The police suspected that she had had an abortion and aggressively questioned her. She was convicted of aggravated murder and sentenced to 26 years in prison.

“It’s a life” declared. “I said ‘I’m never going to get out of there. I lost everything'”.

While she was imprisoned, a sister took care of her daughter, who did not recognize her when she was released after being imprisoned for more than a decade.

Beltrán had a hard time getting a job at first and felt stigmatized, but her daughter encouraged her not to let her guard down. They fixed a cart and started selling hot dogs on the streets of San Salvador.

“She taught me a lot, to face the world”Beltran said. His daughter recently passed away at the age of 22.

Beltrán joined Mujeres Libres years ago.

“We laughed, we cried… We talked about everything we went through”, commented.

Today she lives with another eight-year-old daughter in a house where the group meets. She sells perfumes and dreams of having her own business one day.

“I want to show them that, even though we were in that place, which was a big obstacle… that we can”Beltran noted.

Zuleyma Beltrán photographed with her eight-year-old daughter at the headquarters of the Mujeres Libres organization in San Salvador. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski/)

MARIANA

Mariana López was arrested in 2000, after losing her baby, on suspicion of having an abortion. She was sentenced to 25 years in prison for aggravated murder and released after 17 years, when her sentence was commuted.

When she was convicted, she had a four-year-old son, who is now 26. Since her release, she has tried unsuccessfully to rebuild the relationship.

“There is resentment”Lopez said through tears. “The fact that he did not lead a normal life has been very difficult,”

He lives with his mother and a seven-year-old daughter in a modest house in the northwest of San Salvador. She learned to bake bread in prison and makes a living selling bread that she bakes before dawn. She hopes to have her own bakery one day.

His daughter takes violin classes at Mujeres Libres. The women and children of the group recently went to a beach, kicking off what they hope will be an annual tradition.

“We see it as a family”Lopez said. “We see each other as sisters, because it was a family when our own blood was not there.”

Mariana López photographed with her seven-year-old daughter at her home in Ahuachapán, El Salvador. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski/)

Karen

Karen was 21 years old and pregnant when she passed out at her grandmother’s house, where she was alone. When she woke up, she was handcuffed to a hospital bed. She was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2015 for aggravated murder, accused of undergoing an abortion.

“They told me that I was a murderer and that I was going to pay for what I had done,” Karen said. “That I was going to rot in jail.”

In prison, other inmates told her that she did not deserve to live. She was imprisoned for seven years, until she was released in December.

Today he tries to make up for lost time and plays soccer with his 14-year-old son, while cooking his favorite dishes, refried beans and fried plantains.

“Inside the prison I always trusted God and I never lost faith that at some point I would regain my freedom, since I was innocent”Karen stated. “And I asked God every day to be able to see my son again.”

Karen, who was imprisoned, accused of aggravated homicide after the death of her baby at birth, poses for a photo in San Salvador. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski/)

Cindy

Cindy’s son, Justin, was four years old when she was arrested in 2014 after giving birth to a baby in a mall bathroom. He did not see him again for four years.

When she was arrested, she was studying tourism and English. All of that was up in the air.

“What I reflect on the most is the losses… the total loss, of everything… Family, homes, houses, studies, work, children. Everything is lost”, Cindy stated. “What makes you think the most is how you are going to start over, how you are going to recover time with your family.”

Today he lives with his son and his parents, and has returned to school. She makes piñatas for birthdays with her mother. She made one in the shape of a dinosaur for Justin, who wants to be a paleontologist when he grows up.

Cindy hopes to find a job with a tourism agency and resume her English classes. Mother and son dream of traveling abroad together.

“Forget everything and start over” somewhere else, Cindy said.

Cindy poses for a photo at her home in San Salvador. She was imprisoned after losing a baby due to complications during pregnancy. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski/)

IMELDA

Imelda was raped numerous times between the ages of eight and 18 by her mother’s partner, who impregnated her. In 2017, she unexpectedly gave birth to a baby in a toilet and lost consciousness.

The child survived and she was charged with attempted murder due to the circumstances of the birth. She was released in 2018 after a court determined that she had not tried to kill her baby.

Since her release she has been studying to be a nurse. She believes that a woman should not be forced to continue with a pregnancy if she has been raped.

“A girl who is going to want to be a mother. She is innocent”, said Imelda, who is now 24 years old. “Those ten-year-old girls who are raped, what they want is to play, study. I have always wanted to study, not be a mother.

Imelda photographed during an interview in San Salvador. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski/)

Source: Elcomercio