International Court Tries to Influence El Salvador to Allow Abortion in Deformed Baby Case
An international court has tried to intervene in a major abortion case in El Salvador by stating that doctors must perform the procedure in order to save the life of a woman who is carrying a deformed baby.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights stated its position on Thursday after El Salvador's Supreme Court rejected an appeal by the 22-year-old woman who asked to be granted an exemption from the Latin American country's strict no abortion laws.
Reuters reported that the nation is not bound to respect the wishes of the human rights court, and that women found guilty of having an abortion often face lengthy jail sentences.
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The woman, identified only as Beatriz, is carrying a child with a serious condition known as anencephaly. The baby has little or no chance of surviving birth, doctors have said, but the life of the mother, who is suffering from lupus and kidney problems and is 26 weeks pregnant, may still be saved if she receives the abortion.
"The rights of the mother cannot be privileged over those of the unborn child. The Constitution protects human life from the point of conception," the Supreme Court said in its 4-1 decision against her appeal.
El Salvador has also acknowledged that its laws clash with the Inter-American Court, which is based in Costa Rica. Article 4 of the American Convention on Human Rights, which the country has signed, states that "every person has the right to have his life respected. This right shall be protected by law and, in general, from the moment of conception."
El Salvador says that it recognized the Inter-American Court "insofar as this recognition is compatible with the provisions in the Constitution" of El Salvador.
In an update on Thursday, El Salvador's health minister said that the government has granted doctors permission to induce labor on the woman, according to BBC News.
Health Minister Maria Isabel Rodriguez also assured the woman that doctors "will act immediately" should it be determined that her life is in danger.
"It is very clear at this time that the pregnancy intervention is not an abortion, it is an induced birth, which is something else," Rodriguez said at a news conference, revealing that the woman would be allowed an early C-section next week.
