The case highlights the rigidity of El Salvador's abortion laws. Abortion has been illegal under all circumstances in the Central American country since 1998, even in cases of rape or when a pregnancy poses a risk to a woman's life. It also recognizes the right to life from the moment of conception, "further criminalizing abortion by providing the legal basis for the state to prosecute abortion related crimes as homicide," says the U.S. Centre for Reproductive Rights . Women accused of undergoing the procedure can be sentenced to up to 50 years in prison.