Groups condemn El Salvador’s jailing woman after miscarriage

Washington Post (July 7, 2017): Groups condemn El Salvador's jailing woman after miscarriage, by Associated Press

Human rights organizations around the world are condemning the latest sentencing of a woman in El Salvador. Evelyn Beatriz Hernandez Cruz, a 19 year old, was recently sentenced to 30 years in prison for aggravated homicide. Hernandez Cruz says she was raped and out of fear did not report the incident. She was unaware that she had become pregnant. In April of 2016 she experienced abdominal pain and "was taken to a hospital and treated for vaginal bleeding from an out-of-hospital delivery," but there was no fetus. Authorities decided to pursue a case against Hernandez Cruz and initially charged her with having caused an abortion after finding the fetus. Abortions are illegal in El Salvador with no exceptions. Later, authorities changed the charge against Hernandez Cruz to aggravated homicide. Hernandez Cruz has been in jail since the incident.