[JURIST] A group of independent UN experts on Tuesday urged the government of El Salvador to reconsider its strict abortion ban [press release] in light of a recent ruling by its Supreme Court [official website, in Spanish] The decision denied a 22-year-old woman, Beatriz, the right to an abortion. Beatriz’s pregnancy puts her life at risk, and doctors have said that her child has little chance of surviving due to brain defects that have been detected.

Last week the Inter-American Court of Human Rights [official website, in Spanish] urged [resolution, PDF, in Spanish] El Salvador to allow doctors to perform [JURIST report] the medical procedures necessary to save Beatriz’s life, despite the country’s Supreme Court decision last Wednesday denying the woman’s appeal. El Salvador is one of at least 32 [JURIST report] countries that have unqualified abortion bans.