Imagine living someplace where having a miscarriage could make you a criminal.
Pregnancy is supposed to be happy, but it's also scary. Sometimes it goes wrong.
Christina's miscarriage almost killed her.
She left the hospital heartbroken and in handcuffs. A few months later, she was in jail — sentenced for 30 years for "aggravated homicide." They accused her of an illegal abortion.
Tragically, Christina's case is not an isolated incident.
She was very lucky that a lawyer, Dennis Stanley Muñoz Rosa, happened upon her case and got her released after serving four of the 30 years to which she was sentenced. Other women in El Salvador are not that fortunate and are forced to serve sentences as long as 50 years for having their miscarriages classified as abortions.
In El Salvador, and four other countries, women who go to hospitals following a miscarriage are regularly reported to police for "suspected abortion."
Hundreds of women have been reported to the police since the Central American country passed its ban. Because their bodies are considered the scene of the crime, evidence-gathering procedures are traumatic and invasive. They occur while a woman is still recovering from her miscarriage.
According to the BBC, every case reported from 2000 to 2011 in El Salvador researched by Citizens Group for Decriminalization of Abortion came from public hospitals that serve people who can't afford to get higher quality care from expensive private hospitals. But these hospitals often fail to find compelling evidence that proves the woman intentionally ended her pregnancy.
"Not a single criminal case originated from the private health sector where thousands of abortions are believed to take place annually." — BBC
When Dennis Stanley Muñoz Rosa, the lawyer who took interest in Christina's case, was interviewed by the BBC and cited another case he was working on at the time: A hospital staff member testified that the woman in question "might have" been pregnant 11 whole months before she came to the hospital with severe pain and bleeding.
Activists in the country have hope that in the future, fewer women will be jailed for miscarriages.
Carmen Guadalupe Vasquez, a live-in domestic servant, became pregnant at 18 years old after being raped by her employer. After the home delivery of a stillborn baby she continued to bleed heavily and went to a public hospital. The hospital reported her to the police and she was convicted of aggravated homicide and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Dennis Stanley Muñoz Rosa again was instrumental in highlighting the lack of evidence in her case and getting her released. Because the pardon specifically cited judicial error, local activists believe they can pry open this crack to get more women out of prison.
"The prosecution of these women is based on prejudice not proof and starts from a presumption of guilt; a presumption that because they are poor and uneducated, they killed their babies because they didn't want them and couldn't care for them. The evidence is that there is a dead baby, a woman and the forensic evidence establishes they are mother and child. That's it." — Muñoz Rosa in the Telegraph
El Salvador's high teenage pregnancy rate paired with its low rape reporting rate has some government officials worried.
The head of youth and adolescent development at El Salvador's health ministry has publicly stated that he believes the law and its aggressive enforcement is driving pregnant teenagers to suicide or dangerous "backstreet abortions."
Amnesty International, the United Nations, and several European countries are calling on El Salvador to end this practice.
Amnesty International published a shocking report of how damaging these law have been for Salvadoran women and girls.
One gynecologist, speaking to Amnesty International in early 2014, describedthe treatment received by pregnant girls:
“In the last six months, we had four cases of girls aged between 10 and 14 years old, whosebabies were forming without kidneys. [Such babies] die at birth. It wasn't just that they madethem carry the pregnancy to term, but also that when they explained to them that the babyhad this condition, they said it was the girl's fault for having got pregnant. It's outrageousbecause it's a congenital defect, it has nothing to do with what she's done… but that is whatthe doctors told them when they gave them the news." – Amnesty International report, p. 27
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."
This article originally appeared in May.