In Ecuador, women are victims of the powerful Catholic anti-abortion lobby and a conservative judicial system. Those who can afford it can have an abortion for a few hundred dollars in a private clinic, with few repercussions. But those who don't have the financial means face a more difficult choice. Each year, around a hundred women are prosecuted for having a termination. In this highly conservative country of 17 million inhabitants, the social pressure to embrace motherhood is inescapable and pro-life groups are extremely vocal. Our reporters Justine Sagot and Juan Ignacio Dávila investigate.
Doctors, judges and prosecutors will sometimes stop at nothing to convince women of their supposed role: being a mother. In the capital Quito and other cities, our reporters Justine Sagot and Juan Ignacio Dávila met several women who had abortions and were subsequently prosecuted, as well as a feminist lawyer who is fighting for the decriminalisation of abortion. Ana Vera's battle means facing down powerful leaders, starting with President Guillermo Lasso, a member of the Catholic Church's powerful Opus Dei institution.
