July 2017: In a Los Angeles Times editorial, Viterna discusses why yet another teenager in El Salvador is unjustly imprisoned for the “homicide” of her newborn.

Last year, an 18-year-old Salvadoran woman named Evelyn  accidentally birthed a premature baby into the pit toilet behind her home.  Forensic evidence indicates that the baby was stillborn. Nevertheless, in July 2017, a judge found Evelyn guilty of “aggravated homicide” and sentenced  her to 30  years in jail.  In an editorial titled, The Real Reason El Salvador Jails Women for Stillbirths,  Viterna offers a sociological explanation for why El  Salvador is increasingly imprisoning women for reproductive “crimes.”