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AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: We turn now to a new investigation into what a no-exceptions abortion ban looks like. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa went to El Salvador, which has one of the world’s most restrictive anti-abortion laws, and looked at how women have been incarcerated after losing their babies. In the last two decades since the law was passed, it has prosecuted nearly 200 women for having obstetric emergencies.
This is an excerpt of the new episode of Latino USA, produced with Futuro Investigates in partnership with El Faro English. The voices include producer Monica Morales-Garcia and begins with host Maria Hinojosa.
MARIA HINOJOSA: We came to speak with women who have been incarcerated for what doctors here call obstetric emergencies, things like a miscarriage, una pérdida, or going into labor alone, hemorrhaging or having a stillbirth, emergencies that can have extreme consequences in a country under a total abortion ban.
MONICA MORALES-GARCIA: And though having a miscarriage or a stillbirth is not technically illegal here, medical professionals, police and judges avoid making distinctions, to steer clear of criminal prosecution for being involved in what the government might define as an abortion.
MARIA HINOJOSA: What does that look like in practice? Well, reports show doctors and nurses can end up calling the police when women are having a miscarriage. Let that sink in.
AMY GOODMAN: For more on this investigation, headlined “From Pregnancy to Murder Charge: Living Under a Total Abortion Ban,” we are joined by Maria Hinojosa, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, host of Latino USA, founder of Futuro Media, author of Once I Was You.
Welcome back to Democracy Now! This is powerful, profound and a warning. Talk about why you looked at this issue in El Salvador.
MARIA HINOJOSA: Well, Amy, it’s so great to be here with the both of you.
When I first heard this from a Salvadoran friend here, she said, “Ay, Maria, they’re putting women in prison in El Salvador for having a miscarriage.” I was like, I — this is misinformation. And I actually texted Cecile Richards — may she rest in peace — former president of Planned Parenthood. And I said, “Cecile, this is what I’m hearing. Is this true?” She said, “Yes.” And that’s when I said, “I’ve got to go. I have to see this.”
And I had a sensation that it was not just about seeing what’s happening in El Salvador, but we have a president — right? — that looks at El Salvador and says, “They have martial law. I want martial law. They put people in prison without any due process.