‘The hope of the country’: Reproductive health activist on El Salvador’s historic abortion case
Wendy Barrera Rivas from El Salvador was one of three youth activists touring eastern Canada this month. At every stop, she shares the story of Beatriz, who she calls “the hope of the country.”
Beatriz was a 21-year-old mother living with lupus and in extreme poverty in El Salvador when she became pregnant with a fetus that was developing without a skull and brain. Doctors advised her to end her pregnancy that was putting her life at risk. Due to a ban on abortion in El Salvador, Beatriz was unable to get an abortion. Her health suffered and tragically, in 2017, she died from injuries sustained in a road accident. She was 27.
Today, Rivas’ organization, La Colectiva Feminista Para el Desarrollo Local, is waiting for a verdict in a historic case that carries Beatriz’s name. The case, “Beatriz and others vs El Salvador,” is before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) in Costa Rica. The independent body tasked with protecting human rights case will soon pronounce a judgment on the right to abortion.
If the IACHR recognizes that El Salvador is responsible for violating Beatriz’s human rights, the legal precedent could have repercussions not only in El Salvador but also in other countries where access to abortion is limited such as Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Haiti, according to Lawyers Without Borders.
Sexual and reproductive health and rights are globally under attack by underfunding and regressive policies and ideas that aim to limit choice. Youth activists like Wendy Barrera Rivas are among those on the front lines across the globe, fighting for reproductive freedoms and justice.
Inter Pares, a member of the Canadian Health Coalition, introduced Rivas and two other inspiring activists to audiences across eastern Canada this past week.
Sharaban Tohura is from Bangladesh and roots struggles for reproductive freedom to colonialism. She is an advocate with Nijera Kori, an organization dedicated to programming to empower young people, especially adolescents to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Estephanie Brigatay is an advocate and nurse from the Philippines who daily works to ensure teens receive reproductive health care. She oversees the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Campaign for Likhaan Center for Women’s Health.
The three activists shared their work and contextualized their struggles to audiences in St. John’s, Halifax, Moncton, Fredericton and Montreal from October 20-28.
The NB Media Co-op’s David Gordon Koch livestreamed the Moncton event that can be watched here:
For more on what the activists had to say, read this NB Media Co-op story by Sophie M. Lavoie.
The tour was supported by the following organizations, including the Canadian Health Coalition and Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights. Financial support for this event was provided by Global Affairs Canada through the project, Strategic Interventions to Build Momentum on Sexual and Reproductive Health.
