SAN JOSE, (Reuters) – The regional human rights court for the Americas yesterday told El Salvador it must let doctors perform an abortion on a woman carrying a seriously deformed fetus that has put her life at risk, but the Central American nation was not bound by the move.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights took the action after El Salvador’s Supreme Court issued a ruling on Wednesday rejecting an appeal brought by the 22-year-old woman at the center of the case. She had sought an abortion even though El Salvador banned all types of abortion in 1999.
The woman uses the name “Beatriz” to protect her identity. Her fetus has a serious condition known as anencephaly that results in only partial brain development. Such a fetus has little or no chance of surviving after birth.
Beatriz, meanwhile, suffers from lupus and kidney problems, posing a grave threat to her own health.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights, based in Costa Rica, said El Salvador needs to take urgent action to protect the life of Beatriz. That means performing an abortion, a spokeswoman for the court said.
It has asked El Salvador’s government to comply with its nonbinding resolution before June 8. The court does not have the power to take steps against member countries such as El Salvador.
The case has brought new attention to El Salvador’s strict abortion laws. Women found guilty of having an abortion in El Salvador face lengthy jail sentences.
VIEWS ON ABORTION
Attitudes in Latin America, a predominantly Roman Catholic region, are slowly changing toward abortion with some countries such as Colombia relaxing their rules in order to permit abortions in the case of rape.
