16 January 2007

Fascinating article on the abortion ban in El Salvador

The last issue of Observer Woman was pure fluff - not a bad thing except when written by the odious Polly Vernon, and I quite enjoyed fulminating at the dreadfulness of some of the 'tribes' of women (notably the Earth Mothers).

But there in the middle of it was a really interesting and well-written article on El Salvador, with photos by a world-class documentary photographer. For anybody who didn't see it, concealed in mountains of fluff as it was, abortion is illegal in El Salvador, in all circumstances including rape, incest and threat to the mother's life. And if a doctor realises you have had an abortion, s/he is obliged to report you to the police, and you can be sentenced to 30-50 years in prison.

1 comment:

sphamilton said...

And a harrowing account of the situation in Ghana, which is relatively 'liberal' (ie you can get an abortion if you've been raped, if you can afford one):

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/crossing_continents/6246303.stm