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El Salvador's governing leftist party presented a proposal to Congress to allow abortion in cases of rape or risky pregnancy Tuesday, offering a ray of hope to abortion advocates in the nation.
The Central American country is famous for its tough anti-abortion rules, with women who have abortions facing up to 30 years in prison. The rules offer no exceptions.
The proposal, presented by the Farabundo Martin National Liberation Front, would allow abortion in cases of rape or sex-trafficking when the woman's life is in danger, or when the fetus is so deformed that it makes life unviable.
The church and conservative groups have yet to make a statement on the bill.
To pass the law, the FMLN, the former Marxist guerrilla group, needs 43 out of 84 votes in congress, but only has 31 so far.
There are at least 14 women in El Salvador who have been sentenced to prison terms of 12 years or more for abortion and about 130 currently facing legal proceedings, according to the Citizens Association for the Decriminalization of Abortion. Under Salvadoran law, doctors must report cases of women who they suspect of having induced an abortion.
The influence of the Roman catholic church and numerous christian evangelical churches that consider abortion a sin and believe in the rights of the unborn children, enshrined in El Salvador's constitution, have a stronghold on the country.
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However, the Zika pandemic may have played a role in the recent turn of events.
Earlier in May, El Salvador's health ministry advised women to postpone pregnancy until 2017 after a rise of babies born in Brazil with microcephaly, a condition marked by an abnormally small head and underdeveloped brain linked to Zika.
Earlier this year, the top United Nations human rights official, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, urged Zika-affected countries to ease abortion laws.
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