On 2 February, 2010 a 27-year-old woman was admitted to a hospital in Leon, the second largest city in Nicaragua. She was diagnosed with an advanced case of cancer, which had metastasised and may have spread to her breasts, brain and lungs. She was told she couldn’t be prescribed an aggressive chemotherapy or radiotherapy treatment because she was pregnant and, under Nicaraguan law, any medical procedure to save the life of a mother is banned if it jeopardises the life of the foetus.
Read more about it in the links below.
> Nicaragua Must Provide Medical Treatment to Pregnant Woman with Cancer (Cejil)
> Nicaragua abortion law puts pregnant cancer victim at risk (Amnesty International)
> Nicaragua: “Amalia” case- a ‘human rights scandal’ (Amnesty International)
> Abortion ban shouldn’t set Amalia’s fate (The Guardian)