A Roe v. Wade for Latin America was averted and the right to life upheld. This is what took place late last month in the ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) in Beatriz vs. El Salvador. But headlines obscured this victory for life and portrayed the ruling as a milestone in the quest for abortion rights in Latin America and around the world (see here and here).
Why was Beatriz a victory for life?
Beatriz, an impoverished 22 year-old woman in El Salvador, gave birth in 2013 to a baby that had been diagnosed with anencephaly, a rare brain disorder, and the baby died not long after birth, as is sadly typical in such cases. Beatriz recovered from the birth without complications but was killed four years later in a motorcycle accident.
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