Inter-American Court of Human Rights rejects abortion as a right: Providas celebrate

Several pro-life organizations in Latin America welcomed the decision of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IAC Court) to reject abortion as a human right, in the ruling published on Friday on the Beatriz vs. case. El Salvador.

Sebastián Schuff, president of the Global Center for Human Rights, described this ruling as a “great victory,” since the Inter-American Court “did not agree to the claim of the abortion organizations, the petitioning parties and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of declare abortion as a right.”

“The Court clearly did not agree to that claim and stipulated that it will not speak on the issue in the recent ruling in the Beatriz vs. case. El Salvador, and also did not agree to the claim to declare that the denial of access to abortion constitutes torture in the Inter-American Human Rights System,” he said.

Schuff considers that this ruling marks a turning point in the jurisprudence of the Court, “which once again respects the sovereignty of the countries and the letter and spirit of the American Convention that gave rise to the Inter-American System.”

For her part, Ligia Castaldi, expert witness before the Inter-American Court in the Beatriz Case and professor of international law at Ave Maria School of Law, has pointed out, in statements sent to ACI Prensa, that more than a pro-life victory, this ruling is a defeat of pro-abortion NGOs.

“I would say that the pro-abortion NGOs, who have spent millions of dollars in media campaigns and litigation to escalate this case before the Inter-American Court, lost and saw practically all their claims rejected,” he said.

Castaldi asserted that “they presented the Court with a bad case, lying about the relationship of the events with abortion and the Court rejected them.” “They wanted to make this case the strategic litigation that was going to legalize abortion in Latin America and they lost,” he added.

The expert also pointed out that the ruling should not be considered “a pro-life ruling,” since “its biggest omission is that it does not recognize a single right of the girl Leilani Beatriz, born alive, nor does it value her life in any way.”

Regarding the ruling of the Court in the case of Beatriz vs. El Salvador

The Inter-American Court clarified in its ruling that the death of Beatriz in 2017, a vulnerable woman who suffered from lupus, was not related to El Salvador’s decision to deny her an abortion or to the prohibition of this practice in the country.

In 2013, Beatriz She was pregnant with her second daughter, who was diagnosed with anencephaly. It was a risky pregnancy, but it did not endanger the mother’s life, as long as appropriate care was applied.

However, Salvadoran abortion groups convinced Beatriz that she would die if she did not have an abortion, and that her little girl was not really alive. Fearing that she would leave her first child orphaned, she requested the State to perform an abortion.

After a medical evaluation that determined that the pregnancy did not put the mother’s life at risk, the State rejected the request, and on June 3, 2013, Beatriz gave birth to her daughter, an anencephalic baby.

The little girl, named Leilani, died after five hours due to her illness. Contrary to what abortion groups maintained, Leilani breathed, cried, received her mother’s love and her birth certificate.

Beatriz recovered favorably from the cesarean section, and months later, pressured by pro-abortion groupspresented his case before the Inter-American Court. The request was to legalize abortion so that no other woman suffers what she experienced.

In 2017, Beatriz died due to a traffic accident, and there is no evidence that her death was linked to an abortion.

Although on Friday, December 20, 2024, the Court refused to declare abortion a right, classify its prohibition as “torture” or impose legislative reforms, it condemned the country on some secondary points, such as the recommendation to update high-risk pregnancy protocols. risk.

According to the Global Center for Human Rights, there are no consequences at the regional level.

In the ruling, one can read that “the State of El Salvador was found internationally responsible for failure to comply with its duty of due diligence in guaranteeing the rights to access to effective judicial remedies, to personal integrity, to health and private life of a woman who went through a pregnancy with multiple risks in a situation of obstetric violence generated by legal uncertainty regarding the legality of the actions of the medical personnel involved in her case.”

Likewise, the Court determined the responsibility of the Salvadoran State and ruled on several reparation measures: “it established the duty to adopt guidelines and guidelines for action by medical and judicial personnel in the face of pregnancies that pose a risk to the life or health of the mother.” “The State can comply with this measure through the adaptation of existing protocols, the issuance of a new protocol or any other regulatory measure that guarantees legal certainty in addressing situations such as those in this case.”

In El Salvador, abortion is completely prohibited in all circumstances, even in therapeutic cases or when the mother’s life is at risk, with penalties ranging from two to eight years in prison.

Organizations such as 40 Days for Life of El Salvador, thanked “all those who joined in the defense of the Beatriz vs. case. El Salvador, “from the different legal instances and also to those who joined in prayer and fasting.”

The pro-life organization reiterated its commitment to the defense of two lives: “We continue with our request for prayer so that abortion becomes unthinkable and that hope prevails to save both lives, respecting life from conception to natural death. ”.

“Leylani, daughter of Beatriz, received baptism and love from her mother at birth. His short mission in this world inspires us to fight for both lives,” he adds.

Finally, he called on Salvadoran society “to wake up to this great danger that continues to threaten our nation.” “From our communities, institutions and movements, we must safeguard and be custodians of all human life.”