Editor’s Note: This podcast episode was produced by Latino USA and co-published in partnership with El Faro English.
On a hot San Salvador day, Teodora Vázquez called 911 for an ambulance. She was nine months pregnant, alone at work, and in labor. After multiple phone calls for help, no one arrived. With no medical care, she gave birth, fell unconscious, and began hemorrhaging in a bathroom stall. Shortly after, the police came. To her surprise, they weren’t there to help her, but placed her under arrest for what they decided was the abortion and murder of her newborn. Teodora would then be convicted of homicide and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Awaiting Beatriz Ruling, Allies of Salvadoran State Seek to Undermine Inter-American Court
Since 1997, El Salvador has had a no-exceptions ban on abortion. This means that there are no exceptions for women seeking an abortion after rape, incest, or when their life is in danger. Termination of pregnancy is never allowed; instead, it’s criminalized. Medical professionals can be incarcerated for up to 12 years for assisting or performing an abortion, and pregnant women have been sentenced to up to 50 years in prison for what the government has defined as an abortion and homicide.
Nearly 200 women have been incarcerated after having an obstetric emergency, like miscarriage or stillbirth, in the last 26 years.
In this episode, Maria Hinojosa and producer Monica Morales-Garcia travel to El Salvador to speak with women who have faced El Salvador’s anti-abortion laws, including Teodora. They also speak with leaders in the feminist movement who are fighting to free incarcerated women, and get in touch with a leader of the anti-abortion movement… with close ties to the U.S.
Through interviews, documents, and archival materials, this investigation paints a clear and disturbing picture of the women who suffer most when a country stretches the definition of abortion beyond its meaning and then bans them all without exception.
The Other Beatrices
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This story was produced by Monica Morales-Garcia. It was edited by Andrea López-Cruzado and our managing editor Fernanda Echavarri. It was mixed by Gabriela Baez. Fact checking by Roxana Aguirre. Featured art by Diego Perdomo.