El Salvador court absolves woman accused of killing her stillborn child
AUGUST 19, 2019 / 2:04 PM / UPDATED 16 MINUTES AGO
CIUDAD DELGADO, El Salvador (Reuters) - A Salvadoran court absolved a woman previously convicted of aggravated homicide after she gave birth to a stillborn child, the womans lawyer Bertha DeLeon said on Monday, in a closely watched retrial that overturns a 30-year prison sentence.
Defendant Evelyn Hernandez, 21, has already served three years of the sentence handed down after prosecutors said she had induced an abortion.
The case had attracted international attention.
Thank God, justice was done, Hernandez, in tears, told a cheering crowd outside the court building.
Any intentional termination of a pregnancy in El Salvador can be prosecuted as a crime, including stillbirths due to home delivery or abortions induced because of medical emergencies, with some women receiving up to 40 years in prison.
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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-el-salvador-abortion/el-salvador-court-absolves-woman-accused-of-killing-her-stillborn-child-idUSKCN1V91Q2?rpc=401&