Dear Center supporters,

After suffering an obstetric emergency in 2008, Manuela was unjustly sentenced to 30 years in prison under El Salvador's severe abortion ban. Manuela died imprisoned two years later from cancer after receiving inadequate medical diagnosis and treatment.

In 2012, we filed a case alongside our local partner, la Colectiva Feminista por el Desarrollo Local, seeking reparations for Manuela’s family and sanctions against El Salvador for not complying with international obligations. And in March of this year, we presented oral arguments before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights asking that the Salvadoran State be held responsible for violating Manuela’s human rights.

We're fighting to ensure that no one has to experience such cruel and unnecessary punishment under laws and policies like those in El Salvador, but this work is only possible with your support. That's why a generous Center donor has pledged to match your very first gift—dollar for dollar, up to $150,000—to make DOUBLE the impact fighting for people like Manuela.

Please don't wait. Make a tax-deductible gift today to take your support to the next level and protect reproductive rights around the world.

We're expecting the Court's decision in the coming weeks, and the outcome could have far-reaching impacts in Latin America and the Caribbean.

For more than two decades, El Salvador has criminalized abortion in all circumstances—even when necessary to save a person's life—and imposed harsh criminal penalties on both patients and physicians. The ban has resulted in the imprisonment of hundreds of people who have suffered pregnancy-related complications and miscarriages.

According to a report by Agrupación Ciudadana por la Despenalización del Aborto, between 2000 and 2019 alone, 181 women experienced obstetric emergencies and then were prosecuted criminally for abortion or aggravated homicide, which is punishable by up to 50 years in prison.

Manuela's case will allow the Inter-American Court to create standards with which states across Latin America and the Caribbean in the Inter-American System of Human Rights must comply to guarantee the right to life and health—including those imprisoned.

Please don't wait. Your chance to DOUBLE your impact on the fight for reproductive rights ends on December 31, so make a gift of $35 or more today.

Sincerely,

Catalina Martínez Coral
Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean