Rosa Hernández continues to raise her voice in memory of her daughter.
Although a decade has passed, she does not forget how the medical staff decided to prioritize the care of her pregnancy over the girl's life.
Rosaura 'Esperancita' Almonte Hernández died on August 17, 2012 after being denied the treatment she required to counteract her cancer, in a country where access to abortion is completely prohibited.
This is an emblematic case that is being analyzed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and has become a flag in the request for the Criminal Code of the Dominican Republic to include at least three grounds or exceptions for the right to abortion: in cases of rape or incest, in cases of fetal inviability, and
when the pregnancy puts the health or life of the mother at risk, as in the case of 'Esperancita'.
Under the slogan 'The Dominican law caused her death', Rosa Hernández took advantage of the anniversary to protest before the National Congress together with other organizations and groups that denounce the danger that abortion is prohibited in any circumstance and ask the president, Luis Abinader , that he keeps his word to support a draft Criminal Code that guarantees access at least in these exceptional cases.
At her home in Santo Domingo, Rosa Hernández holds a photo of her daughter who died on August 17, 2012, after being denied the treatment she required for leukemia.
Abortion remains illegal on the island in all cases. ERIKA SANTELICES / afp/AFP via Getty Images
“Banning abortion does not save lives, it only causes the death of women and great pain in families like ours
who still mourn their completely preventable deaths.
We have experienced injustice firsthand and we do not want more families to go through this same situation," explained Hernández, who delivered a letter to a commission of deputies, along with the relatives of other young women who have died in similar circumstances.
In addition to joining the voices that currently call for a modern Penal Code that protects the rights of those who become pregnant, Rosa Hernández continues to seek that the Dominican Justice clarify the facts surrounding the death of her daughter, punish those responsible and adopt the changes structural measures necessary to prevent situations like your daughter's from happening again.
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Rosa Hernández's defense, represented by Women's Link Worldwide, assured in a press release that after nine years of having instituted the judicial processes
"it is possible to affirm that the case remains unpunished
, since there has only been a late and partial advance in one of the Due to the lack of justice and speed in the Dominican Republic, the case of 'Esperancita' was brought before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 2017, a scenario in which all the procedural stages were completed and it is ready to be decided." .
What happened to the teenager?
"On July 2, 2012, she was admitted to a hospital in Santo Domingo where she was diagnosed with leukemia. I was naive enough to believe that she was in good hands and that with timely chemotherapy, proper care, love and support I would have a chance to survive," recalls the mother, Rosa Hernández.
"I would soon realize that my greatest heartache would come not from her suffering from a life-threatening illness, but from
laws that completely ignored the value of her life,"
he wrote in an op-ed.
A protest in Santo Domingo in 2020 for the decriminalization of abortion in three exceptions: when the woman's life is in danger, when the fetus comes with malformations and when the pregnancy is the result of rape, incest and pedophilia.
ERIKA SANTELICES / afp/AFP via Getty Images
"At the time of her diagnosis, it was discovered that she was a few weeks pregnant. It was clear that if she received the treatment she needed to save her life, her fetus would not be viable," he continues.
In his opinion, for any doctor who respected the ethical standard, the option would have been unquestionable: "
My daughter should have received your treatment, even if it meant losing an early pregnancy.
After all, she was only 16 years old, a young woman with all her life ahead that she probably would have decided to become a mother when the time was right, and would be healthy enough to carry a pregnancy. I'll never get to see her do that now. That's not how our story ends."
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The years have passed, but Hernández is still very affected by what happened and constantly remembers what he calls "the worst days" of his life.
"It took 20 days of my daughter's suffering for them to debate whether it was right to prioritize her beating heart over a fetus that was not going to be viable under any circumstances. But cruelty prevailed."
Rosa Hernández is a teacher and since her daughter's death she has dedicated herself to telling her story and seeking justice. ERIKA SANTELICES / afp/AFP via Getty Images
Finally, 'Esperancita' died as a result of hypovolemic shock, an emergency condition caused by severe blood loss that makes the heart unable to pump all that the body needs.
"My daughter's case will be replicated in the US"
The 10th anniversary of his death comes days after the United States Supreme Court decided to overturn Roe v.
Wade, which has already reduced access to health care in those states that decided to ban safe abortions as soon as the decision was known.
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"When I learned of Roe's fall in the United States, my heart sank. I am devastated by the unnecessary pain this decision will cause. I fear that my daughter's case will soon be replicated in the United States. Just a few weeks ago, a woman seeking an abortion before her cancer treatment was turned away in Ohio
Nothing should stand in the way of a person with cancer getting needed medical care
If my daughter's experience taught me anything, it's that this same principle it must be extended to all health services, including abortion. Legislating the health system has domino effects that will cause unimaginable and completely unnecessary pain and suffering," continues mother Rosa Hernández.
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"This is not an accident. These laws are written to discriminate against people like me and my dear deceased daughter, people who do not have the money or the privilege to travel elsewhere for a private and safe abortion," the woman concludes.