32. The IACHR underscores that this case takes place in a context of the criminalization of abortion in El Salvador. Several international bodies have addressed the impact the ban has had on Salvadoran women. 33. In the United Nations, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women has stated that the absolute criminalization of abortion in El Salvador has direct consequences for maternal morbidity and mortality. In her 2011 report, the Rapporteur stated that without legal, safe, and timely options, many women have had to turn to practices that are dangerous and even deadly; they abstain from seeking medical services; or they experience obstetric emergencies without the necessary medical care.3 She also noted that according to the Ministry of Health, the maternal mortality rate among adolescents was 15.3% in 2003, 26% in 2004, and 21.4% in 2005, with unsafe and clandestine abortion becoming the second of the 10 main causes of female mortality in El Salvador.4 34. For its part, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has expressed concern at the severity of El Salvador's abortion laws and urged the State to take measures to bring its legislation into line with the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights regarding the right to life in order to help women prevent unwanted pregnancies and so they will not have to see clandestine abortions, which can put their lives at risk.5 35. The Committee also expressed concern in 2011 over the fact that “women seeking treatment in public hospitals have been reported to the judicial authorities by medical staff who believe they have been involved in abortions, that legal proceedings have been brought against some of these women, and that in some cases these proceedings have resulted in severe penalties for the offence of abortion or even homicide, an offence interpreted broadly by the courts. Even though the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court has ruled that in cases of vital need a woman facing criminal proceedings for abortion can be absolved of criminal responsibility, the Committee is concerned that this legal precedent has not been followed by other courts and that criminal proceedings against women accused of abortion have not been dropped as a result.”6 36. Likewise, in 2014, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights expressed concern regarding El Salvador’s “complete ban on abortion, which affects poor and less educated women in particular, with no allowance for exceptional circumstances, which has given rise to grave situations of distress and injustice. The Committee is particularly concerned at cases in which women whose health was seriously at risk have turned to the health system and been reported on suspicion of having had an abortion. In some cases disproportionate criminal penalties have been imposed with no regard for due process. The Committee is also concerned at the high number of unsafe and illegal abortions, which have serious consequences for health and are still one of the main causes of maternal mortality.”7 The Committee urged the State to provide quality treatment for complications arising from abortions carried out in unsafe conditions, rather than focusing on criminal prosecution.8 37. Also, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women stated in 2017 that it was concerned about the absolute criminalization of abortion in El Salvador, pursuant to article 133 of the Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Ms. Rashida Manjoo, Addendum - Follow-up mission to El Salvador, para. 66, (2011). 4 Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Ms. Rashida Manjoo, Addendum - Follow-up mission to El Salvador, para. 66, (2011). 5 United Nations Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, “Compilación de observaciones finales del Comité de Derechos Humanos sobre países de América Latina y el Caribe (1977-2004).” Published by the OHCHR and the Human Rights Center of the Universidad de Chile. 6 Concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee on El Salvador, CCPR/C/SLV/Co/6 (2010). 7 United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Concluding observations on the combined third, fourth and fifth periodic reports of El Salvador, UN document E/C.12/SLV/CO/3-5, June 19, 2014, para. 22. 8 United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Concluding observations on the combined third, fourth and fifth periodic reports of El Salvador, UN document E/C.12/SLV/CO/3-5, June 19, 2014, para. 22. 3 5