[Google Scholar translation from Spanish language] El Salvador has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world 1 . Until 1998, El Salvador allowed abortion in three specific cases, including cases in which it was necessary to protect the life of the woman, when the pregnancy was the product of a crime, as well as in cases of fetal malformation incompatible with extrauterine life. 2 . However, in 1998 the Penal Code was amended, criminalizing abortion in all cases, as well as criminalizing public employees of any authority who do not report their commission, including those officials who work in hospitals and clinics. The change in the law since 1998 generated as a parallel consequence that medical professionals, contrary to the right to confidentiality of patients, report to the authorities women who access emergency services for reasons of reproductive health, such as, for For example, obstetric emergencies, on suspicion that they have had induced abortions 3 . After the legislative changes of 1998, El Salvador also amended its Political Constitution in 1999, recognizing the embryo as a human being from "the moment of conception" 4 . Thus, a person who performs or self-induces an abortion, even before the fetal stage, can be prosecuted for the crime of homicide that carries a prison sentence of up to 50 years in prison 1 . The consequences of law enforcement in El Salvador have resulted in women facing complications in their pregnancies, including obstetric emergencies, prefer not to seek medical care for fear of being persecuted, investigated, and imprisoned on suspicion of having had abortions. . In cases where women effectively access abortion, once reported to the authorities, they run the risk of facing failures that permeate the judicial system, suffering serious violations in due process during the judicial stage, where in several cases neither they do not even have adequate legal representation 5 . Additionally, other factors contribute to creating barriers in the access to reproductive health services for women in El Salvador. Socioeconomic inequality, for example, is the main cause of gender inequality and prevents access to health services by women, particularly rural and low-income women. Likewise, sociocultural factors related to gender stereotypes and marked patterns of violence against women, added to the root cause of the problem, which is due to restrictive legislation that prevents access to abortion in all cases, also contributes significantly to environment of structural discrimination against women. It is from this legal context that an environment of structural stigma and discrimination is unleashed against women in the country 6 . Those people who access or express their position in favor of reproductive health services may be subject to abuse, aggression, political violence, persecution and harassment ...
Language: es
LA - es SN - 0102-311X UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0102-311X00039119 ID - ref1 ER -