Women in jail for abortion in Gto: Their stories

Below you will find the stories of each of these women in their voices compiled and translated from interviews (pseudonyms are used to protect the identities of the women.


∴Alesandra∴


When she was 18 years old Alesandra was accused of aborting her pregnancy of 9 months and sentenced to 25 years of prison.


“I hadn’t told anyone I was pregnant, because I had already been threatened that if I had another child, my family would be upset. I started to feel sick one day and my mother gave me a tea. When I went to the bathroom I noticed I was bleeding and that the umbilical cord had started to emerge.


My mom took me to the doctor and he refused to treat me because he thought I had aborted the child. He sent me to the hospital. The doctor there yelled at me “Do you know what you have done niña? How could you do this?” He put me to sleep and when I woke up he made me sign something, I couldn’t tell what. He told me they couldn’t save the baby and that I had to go to jail for what I had done.”


∴Gabriela∴


When She was 34 years old Gabriela was accused of aborting her pregnancy of 6 months and sentenced to 25 years of prison.


“I have no idea what day I was born. I never went to school, and from a young age helped my father around our farm. He never let us leave the house at night, but during the day I loved to walk around and talk to people in the community. One night a man offered to walk me home, but I told him no and asked him to leave.


My family’s house was poorly made. The doors were thin wood. The man came by at night and would sleep with me. He would leave before sunrise. I never told anyone I was pregnant. One day I felt sick…the neighbor found me and called the police…”


∴Fatima∴


Fatima’s case varies from the others. Her infant of a year and three months fell sick and died in the hospital and she was accused of murdering her child and sentenced to 26 years.


“I noticed my youngest was sick and that there was blood in her cough so I brought her to the hospital with my brother. My brother told me she died in the hospital and I became hysterical, screaming “not my daughter,” and my older daughter came and grabbed me, sobbing.


A few days later I was called into a judicial office. They accused me of beating my child and forced me to sign blank sheets of paper which they later used as my “confession.” They said I murdered my baby.”


∴Patricia∴


When she was 26, Patricia was accused of aborting her 7½ month pregnancy and sentenced to 29 years in prison.


“One morning I woke up feeling sick and like I had to go to the bathroom. I went to the latrine near our house and fainted. My parents found me there, unconscious with a dead fetus between my legs. My father removed the fetus and put it on our patio to bury later in a funeral service. They brought me to the hospital.


When we returned the fetus was gone; a neighbor had seen the bundle and called the police and the Public Prosecution Office. Public officials came to my house and forced me to sign several documents. Then they took me to their office and said they had to detain me. My assigned defense lawyer explained to me that I had abandoned and murdered my child, that I would have to go to prison for my crime.”


∴Ana∴


When she was 19, Ana was accused of murdering a 9 month-old baby and sentenced to 30 years of prison.


“I didn’t realize I was pregnant. So when I noticed I was bleeding I thought it was my cycle. After eight days of heavy bleeding, I started vomiting and my mother took me to the hospital.


“Don’t tell me you don’t know what you did.” The nurse scolded me, “We know you threw your baby in the trash.” A 9 month-old baby had recently been found in a trash near the hospital. A nurse told me they did a blood test (There is no medical or legal record of this blood test or proof that it ever existed).


They wouldn’t let me see my family or call them. I told a doctor my stomach hurt. “Your do not hurt. You are feeling the results of what you did.” He told me. They said police and fireman found evidence at my house, that I would be punished. I was interrogated and imprisoned. I never met my defense lawyer. They used false documents with forged signatures as my confession.”


∴Sofía∴


At the age of 19 Sofía was accused of murdering her baby of 6½ months and sentenced to 25 years.


I was in my house and my stomach began to hurt. I went to the bathroom and the baby came out in the bath tub. I felt her nose and chest, but she wasn’t breathing. I was scared. I didn’t know what to do. I wrapped the baby in a bag and sent it down the river.


I was sick for several days and finally I had to go to the hospital. The doctor said I almost died. They had found the baby and told me I would be punished. I was taken to a holding cell. They said I taped my baby’s mouth shut to suffocate her, but that was a lie. When I went to the bathroom they accused me of trying to escape. One of the officials from the Public Prosecution Office put a statue of Christ in my cell so that I could repent my sins.



*All of these stories were translated by Jessica Steinberg from parts of interviews conducted by Gabriela Ortiz.*