Last Salvadoran woman imprisoned over baby's death calls for change

Lilian, a 28-year-old cosmetologist, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for aggravated manslaughter due to an abortion caused by an obstetric emergency, and who was released on December 1, 2023 after more than seven years in prison, speaks during a press conference in San Salvador, El Salvador, January 17, 2024. REUTERS/Jessica Orellana

SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - The last woman imprisoned in El Salvador on charges linked to abortion on Wednesday called for people in the Central American country to stop denouncing women who suffer obstetric emergencies, in her first public comments since her release.

El Salvador has one of the most draconian abortion bans in the Americas, which critics say extends to women who suffer miscarriages and stillbirths. Many women have been sentenced to decades in prison on charges of killing their children.