El Salvador: three women jailed for abortions released

Source: Associated Press

El Salvador’s Supreme Court has commuted the 30-year sentences of three women imprisoned for abortion convictions, lessening their punishment to time served and ordering them to be released immediately.

The three women had spent about 10 years in prison on aggravated homicide charges for allegedly having abortions. All claimed that they had miscarriages. The court found that the women were victims of social and economic circumstances and ruled that the original sentences were unreasonable.

“In all three cases, the court recognised that the women have had adverse social, economic and family situations, and the sentences were disproportionate and immoral,” said the Foundation for Research on the Application of the Law.

Eighteen more women remain behind bars for abortion convictions in El Salvador, where abortion is illegal in all circumstances.

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AP in San Salvador
Thu 7 Mar 2019 23.35 GMT Last modified on Thu 7 Mar 2019 23.45 GMT


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/07/el-salvador-three-women-jailed-for-abortions-released