Grounds on Which Abortion Is Permitted s7

El Salvador ABORTION POLICY

Grounds on which abortion is permitted

To save the life of the woman No* To preserve physical health No To preserve mental health No Rape or incest No Foetal impairment No Economic or social reasons No Available on request No

Additional requirements

Not applicable.

______* Abortion law in El Salvador has been amended to remove all indications for the legal performance of abortions; however, it is a matter of dispute whether a defense of necessity might be allowed to justify an abortion performed to save the life of the woman.

FERTILITY AND MORTALITYREPRODUCTIVE CONTEXT HEALTH CONTEXT

Government view of fertility level: Too high

Government intervention concerning fertility level: To lower

Government policy on contraceptive use: Direct support provided

Percentage of currently married women using modern contraception (aged 15-44, 1993): 53

Total fertility rate (1995-2000): 3.2

Age-specific fertility rate (per 1,000 women aged 15-19, 1995-2000): 95

Government has expressed particular concern about: Morbidity and mortality resulting from induced abortion .. Complications of childbearing and childbirth ..

Maternal mortality ratio (per 100,000 live births; 1990): National 300 Central America 140

Female life expectancy at birth (1995-2000): 73

Source: The Population Policy Data Bank maintained by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat. For additional sources, see list of references.

136 119 El Salvador BACKGROUND

BACKGROUND Until 1997, the performance of abortions in El Salvador was governed by the provisions of the 1973 Penal Code. Under the Code, an abortion could be legally performed under three major circumstances: when the abortion was the only means of saving the life of the mother; in cases of rape or statutory rape (consensual sex with a minor under the age of consent); and in cases of foreseeable serious foetal deformity. In addition, an abortion caused by the negligence of the pregnant woman was not punished. The Code also recognized the concept of honoris causa abortions and imposed reduced penalties if a woman of good conduct caused her own abortion or consented to one being performed in order to protect her reputation.

This Code replaced the 1956 Penal Code under which there were no stated exceptions to the prohibition against abortion, although under the general principles of criminal law, one could be performed on the grounds of necessity to save the life of the pregnant woman. However, because it was evident that abortion was widespread and that it contributed significantly to maternal mortality, the Government moved to liberalize abortion laws. The Contraceptive Prevalence Survey conducted in 1975 found that close to 20 per cent of all ever-married women surveyed had had at least one abortion (induced or spontaneous) in their lifetime. The proportion that had undergone an abortion was slightly higher in rural areas. The National Fertility Survey conducted in 1978 obtained similar results.

By 1997, however, the views of El Salvador’s legislature on abortion had again shifted. It enacted a new Penal Code that removed all exceptions to the general prohibition against abortion, except that involving abortion resulting from the negligent action of the pregnant woman. The Code provides that a person who induces an abortion with the consent of the woman or a woman who induces her own abortion or consents to another person inducing it is subject to imprisonment for two to eight years. A person who induces an abortion without the woman’s consent is subject to imprisonment for four to 10 years, and if the person is a physician, pharmacist or related health worker who devotes him or herself to such practices, he or she is subject to imprisonment for six to 12 years.

In addition, the Legislature adopted two other measures to demonstrate its opposition to abortion. It moved the abortion provisions of the Code from the section on offences against the human body to a new section of the Code concerning offences relating to human life in formation. It also amended the Constitution to provide that every human person is recognized as a human being from the moment of his or her conception. At the same time, it removed the honoris causa provisions from the Code.

The effect of these changes is not entirely clear. On the one hand, they could be interpreted as prohibiting abortions completely, even those performed when no other way can be found to save the life of the pregnant woman. Some have argued that this is their effect, particularly in the light of the absolutist position of those who supported the changes. On the other hand, like most Penal Codes, the Penal Code of El Salvador contains general provisions on necessity that allow acts that would otherwise be considered illegal to be carried out without punishment when they are necessary to preserve a good. It could be argued that abortion performed as the only means to save the life of a pregnant woman falls under these provisions.

Family planning services have been available through the Ministry of Health and the Social Security Institute of El Salvador (ISSS) since the late 1960s, and through the Asociación Demográfica Salvadoreña (ADS), a private affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, since 1966. However, whereas more than 95 per cent of women of fertile age and in union know a method of family planning, only a little more than half of them use a contraceptive method. Sterilization accounted for 63 per cent of contraceptive use in 1988.

Source: The Population Policy Data Bank maintained by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat. For additional sources, see list of references.

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