The Beatriz case: a historic victory for the Latin American pro-life movement

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has just rejected the pro-abortion lobby’s attempt to establish a “right to abortion” throughout Latin America. This ruling creates a legal precedent that will help PRI and other pro-life groups to defend innocent unborn life from conception in the 25 member countries, including in the region at large.

The abortion lobby was hoping that Court’s ruling in the Beatriz Case would go the other way, namely, that it would allow abortion on demand throughout Latin America in the same way that the US Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade opened the path to unrestricted abortion.

Just like Roe, the abortion lobby built its case on a falsehood.

They claimed a “therapeutic abortion” would have saved the life of a young Salvadoran woman, Beatriz, in a high-risk pregnancy. They argued that the laws of El Salvador, which recognise the right to life of the unborn and prohibit abortion, prevented doctors from saving her life.

The truth is that, just as Jane Roe was never raped, Beatriz did not die from complications related to her pregnancy or the alleged lack of an abortion.  Rather, Beatriz died more than four years after the birth of her child in an unrelated motorcycle accident.

Given the pro-abortion sentiments of several members of the Inter-American Court, many believed that the pro-abortion lobby would prevail. Yet, against all odds, it did not.

The reason? A chorus of pro-life organisations across the region raised its voice for months, exposing the way the abortion lobby was distorting the facts of the case, not to mention engaging in outright falsehoods.

Population Research Institute played a key role in the Beatriz Case through our ongoing alliance with the Global Center for Human Rights (GCHR), our main ally within the Inter-American system. Together, we work tirelessly to defend human rights, with a special emphasis on the right to life from conception. We have trained GCHR’s leaders in political strategies, provided them with practical and effective political tools, and are in constant communication with them.

In the Beatriz Case specifically, PRI actively participated in multiple strategic meetings throughout the process, helping to outline clear courses of action. We facilitated the involvement of opinion leaders across the region and promoted a series of campaigns related to the case through media outlets and social networks. By forming a united front and working together for a common purpose, we were able to prevail against the duplicity and deep pockets of the abortion movement.

The Beatriz Case in detail: the truth about the abortion lobby’s Deceptions

The Beatriz Case began in 2013. Beatriz, a 22-year-old woman of limited means in El Salvador, was pregnant with her second child. Her first pregnancy had been difficult, in part because she suffered from lupus, and doctors suggested sterilisation after she delivered. Beatriz refused because she wanted to become a mother again.

Several years later, Beatriz was happy to learn that she was again pregnant. But during one prenatal visit, the doctor informed her that her unborn child suffered from anencephaly. This is a congenital malformation that prevents the development of the brain, and which would limit her baby’s time on earth to anywhere from a few hours to a few months.

Following the diagnosis, the abortion lobby lied to Beatriz, telling her she would die if she continued with the pregnancy. Their real goal was to use her situation as a pretext to promote the legalisation of abortion, first in El Salvador, and then later at the Inter-American Court.

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The case reached El Salvador’s Supreme Court, which, after reviewing all the evidence, correctly concluded that Beatriz’s life was not in danger and that an abortion was not justified. Rafael Varaona, a perinatologist and Beatriz’s doctor throughout her second pregnancy, told the court that her systemic lupus erythematosus was completely controlled during her pregnancy, and that her life was never at risk.

However, because her previous cesarean had not healed properly, it was decided to perform a Caesarean section at six months to avoid the possibility of hemorrhage. Her daughter was born and named Leylani. She was born alive, received much love from her mother, and passed away naturally hours later due to her anencephaly.

As for Beatriz, she recovered from her Caesarean section without any complications. Four years later, however, she was killed in a motorcycle accident.

Her tragic death caught the attention of the pro-abortion lobby, who decided to lie about her cause of death. It attributed her death to her lack of access to the “human right to abortion”. They resurrected the case and brought it before the Inter-American Court.

Key precedents from the ruling

After analysing the case, the Inter-American Court concluded that Salvadoran laws protecting life from conception neither violated Beatriz’s human rights nor were related to her untimely death.

But the Court went even further, making several critical points that will help us defend life in the region even more vigorously:

  1. Rejection of Falsehoods: The Court dismissed the lies in the Beatriz Case, recognising that her death was unrelated to El Salvador’s abortion prohibition and that her right to life was not violated.
  2. Recognition of the Dignity of the Unborn: The Court rejected attempts to dehumanise Leylani, affirming that a proper understanding of human rights does not prioritise the unborn’s right to life over the mother’s health, but does clearly grant equal protection to both.
  3. Abortion Not Recognised as a Right: The Court clarified that abortion cannot be considered a “right” within the inter-American system because it remains a crime. An act cannot simultaneously be both a crime and a right.
  4. Rejection of “Obstetric Violence” as a Pro-Abortion Argument: The Court noted that obstetric violence results from medical protocol failures, not laws criminalising abortion. This dismantled feminist arguments linking pro-life legislation to gender violence.
  5. Reaffirmation of National Sovereignty: In an unprecedented and unexpected decision, the Court declared that while countries are free to implement its recommendations, it will not and does not impose them on member countries. This strengthened El Salvador’s sovereignty.

More generally, this ruling reaffirms that the best practices for protecting both mother and child lie in medical protocols that always, under all circumstances, respect life, and never see abortion as a solution.

Most importantly, it marks a turning point in the defense of life in Ibero-America. It sends a clear message: human rights, including the right to life from conception, are non-negotiable.

Lessons for the pro-life movement

The Inter-American Court’s decision demonstrates that the defence of life can prevail even against massive international pressure and media manipulation and lies.

This case also underscores the importance of organisation and unity among pro-life organisations in the region, all of whom worked together to expose the falsehoods spewed by the pro-abortion lobby.

This victory could not have been achieved without the splendid efforts of the Global Center for Human Rights. Its leaders, Sebastián Schuff and Neydy Casillas, have dedicated years of their lives to co-ordinating efforts across the region to ensure that the Inter-American Court respected national rights and democracy.

Among other things, they launched the website casobeatriz.org to centralize information, promote activities, and facilitate the participation of thousands of citizens through a petition directed at the Court’s judges.

Our victory serves as a model for successfully resisting the culture of death throughout the region. The story of Beatriz teaches us that, if we stand together, Truth and Life can prevail, even against the vicious lies of the merchants of death.

As the head of the Population Research Institute’s office in Latin America, I am proud to have been part of it.


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Carlos Polo, a social anthropologist, is the head of the Population Research Institute’s office in Latin America.

This article has been republished from the Population Research Institute.

Image credit: Pexels


 

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  • mrscracker
    Thank you so much for sharing this article.
  • Carlos Polo