El Salvador gives woman accused of abortion 30 years prison

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — A court in El Salvador has sentenced a woman who suffered an obstetric emergency that ended her pregnancy to 30 years in prison for aggravated homicide. According to the Citizen Group for the Decriminalization of Abortion, a nongovernmental organization assisting in her defense, a woman they identified only as “Esme” was sentenced Monday. The woman had already been in pre-trial detention for two years following her arrest when she sought medical care in a public hospital. El Salvador maintains a total ban on abortion and a number of women have been arrested and sentenced to prison after suffering apparent miscarriages that were reported to authorities.