Legalize abortion in El Salvador

Abortion is banned in all circumstances in El Salvador, and women accused of undergoing the procedure can be charged with aggravated homicide and sentenced to up to 50 years in jail. However, a bill proposed last August would legalise abortion in some cases.

Salvadoran legislative deputies serve three years, and if the bill does not pass in the next month, it is doubtful the issue will be taken up by the incoming conservative majority. The total ban on abortion came into force in 1998.
Dozens of women are currently in jail in El Salvador accused of having abortions and charged with aggravated murder when they experienced miscarriages or still births. Many of these women have received sentences of 30 or 40 years in prison.

Last month, Maira Verónica Figueroa Marroquín became the latest woman released from jail. She had served almost half of a 30-year sentence for suffering a late-term miscarriage.