A woman sits in a van from which a flag hangs that reads in Spanish "Legal Abortion", during a rally in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, March 7, 2014. AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko.
On April 16th, a court in Argentina’s Tucumán province sentenced a woman to eight years in prison for “aggravated double homicide.” But this wasn’t a violent crime; in fact, it wasn’t a crime at all. A few years ago, the woman, known as “Belén,” experienced severe abdominal pains and went to a local hospital. There she suffered further cramping and bleeding and was informed she had miscarried. This came as a surprise, as Belén was not even aware she was pregnant.
Hospital staff accused her of attempting to induce an abortion and allegedly discovered a fetus in a hospital bathroom. The staff called the police, insisting that Belén had induced an abortion and left the fetus in the hospital bathroom. But there was no DNA to prove this. There was also a lack of evidence proving that Belén had attempted to induce and did not, as she maintains, have a miscarriage. After this trauma, Belén was subject to verbal insults and police were permitted in the hospital room to "inspect" her. They then threw her in jail. For more than two years, Belén was waiting for the ruling. Now she faces another eight years of imprisonment.
