Lilian’s baby girl died under the care of doctors, but she was prosecuted for neglect and murder. Image: GETTY IMAGES
Woman from El Salvador set free following conviction for abortion.
After serving more than seven years in prison for having an abortion, a Salvadoran lady was granted her release.
In 2015, the 28-year-old, who went by Lilian, was given a 30-year prison term. In 2015, she gave birth to a girl in a public hospital, but three days later, the child passed away due to health issues.
El Salvador, which has some of the worst anti-abortion legislation in the world, outlaws abortion completely.
Lilian was accused by the prosecution of neglecting the foetus during her pregnancy, and she was charged with both aggravated homicide and carelessness.
Lilian, whose daughter is ten years old, has consistently insisted on her innocence and stated that she had no intention of ending her pregnancy.
At a press conference on Wednesday, she stated, “In the name of all my companions, I ask you to stop accusing and prosecuting other innocent women like me.”
“It was a very hard trauma to live through and I don’t wish it on anyone.”
Campaign organisations who stood with Lilian throughout her captivity said that she was set free in December, but the details have just recently been made public.
They claimed that Lilian’s vulnerable state in the hospital at the time of her baby’s death was the basis for the judge’s decision to release her.
In 1998, El Salvador passed legislation outlawing abortions completely. Exemptions for rape cases and situations in which the mother’s health is at risk throughout the pregnancy are not included.
Those who are convicted of ending their pregnancy might spend two to eight years behind bars.
However, the accusation is sometimes amended to aggravated homicide, which has a 30-year minimum term.
It’s thought that dozens of women were wrongfully imprisoned in El Salvador on the grounds that they may have undergone abortions. In recent years, several women who were imprisoned have been freed as a result of initiatives led by rights organisations.
However, some people are still incarcerated and serving lengthy sentences.
Mariana Moisa, a representative of the civil rights organisation Nos Faltan Las 17 (We Miss The 17), stated during the news conference on Wednesday, “We insist that we are asking for justice, so women have access to our sexual and reproductive rights.”
Expected to be re-elected next month, President Nayib Bukele says he plans to make hospital environments safer for women giving birth. He has, however, made it clear that he does not want to change the present abortion legislation in El Salvador.
Roman Catholics and Evangelicals, who believe that life begins at conception and must to be preserved at all costs, make up the majority of the people in the nation.