Educational Media Reviews Online

Even if red states in the US were not currently instructing us in the many dystopian possibilities for women in the post-Dobbs era, certain Latin American neighbor states might do so amply. Judged Bodies (Cuerpos Juzgados), a Spanish language documentary (subtitled) by journalist Mariana Carbajal, provides video witness to the cruel injustices faced by women in El Salvador which has some of the strictest prohibitions against abortion in Latin America. The women featured in this film did not have elective abortions however, they were criminally prosecuted by the state for having “suspicious” miscarriages. In many cases, because these women were poor, they were unable to access adequate prenatal care or emergency care when the symptoms of miscarriage began. Then, when they woke up in the hospital, they found themselves under arrest, and because their families were poor, unable to raise funds for an adequate defense.

If the women’s testimonies evoke outrage and horror in the viewer, the steadfast courage of the international coalition of women’s rights organizations such as La Agupacion Ciudadana (The Citizen Group) that took up their cause and fought to free them provides a measure of recompense. That these activists had to face long odds - not only a political/judicial system that was stacked against them but also cultural and religious stigma surrounding abortion as well as a health care system intimidated into compliance – and did not falter is a tribute to their bravery. At one point in the film, an activist worries about the real possibility of criminal prosecution for trying to help these women. Nevertheless, she persists.

The intimate focus of the camera on these women’s struggles (both victims and activists) as they unfold provides an immediacy to their tenacious quest for justice. By the end, their success may seem inevitable, given their determination – fifty women had been released from prison by the film’s conclusion. This film is a timely reminder of the universality of the lived experiences of women around the world as well as the everyday heroism that can move mountains for them and their children.

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