Twenty-one-year-old Evelyn Hernández — a rape survivor who induced an abortion and was sentenced to decades in prison — has been cleared of all charges after a retrial in El Salvador.
The case has stretched on for years.
A blood-soaked Hernández was found in a washroom in her hometown, the BBC reported. Once she arrived at hospital, doctors saw that she’d given birth — but there was no sign of a baby.
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Her baby was found later.
Police found the newborn’s body in a septic tank in the Hernández family home. In El Salvador, abortion is illegal in every circumstance. Hernández was charged. In 2017, she was convicted and given a 30-year prison sentence.
There were extenuating circumstances.
Hernández and her lawyers have argued since the start that the pregnancy was the result of a rape, and that she never knew she was pregnant in the first place. The case, and the harsh sentence, quickly made news and sparked criticism of El Salvador’s tough abortion laws.
Hernández was sent to prison.
She wound up serving 33 months — nearly three years — of her sentence before this month’s retrial. After examining the facts of the case, the judge said there wasn’t enough evidence to convict, and Hernández was freed.
Tough abortion laws can criminalize women.
Human rights organization Amnesty International lauded the judge’s decision, calling it a “victory for human rights”. They also criticized El Salvador’s abortion laws, stating the government should end “the shameful and discriminatory practice of criminalizing women once and for all by immediately revoking the nation’s draconian anti-abortion laws.”
It’s a big deal.
Before the retrial, Hernández was freed pending the outcome. But prosecutors actually tried to increase her sentence, arguing that she should get 40, rather than 30, years in prison. This level of punishment brought all kinds of criticism of the country’s legal system.
What comes next?
While Hernández was freed on what amounts to a technicality, her case has brought international attention to the plight of women who live in areas that criminalize and harshly punish those who get abortions.
She’s happy to be free.
“Thank God, justice has been done,” she said . “My future is to continue studying and to move forward with my goals. I am happy.”
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