#  July 2017: Viterna pens editorial for the Los Angeles Times 

 



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](http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-viterna-el-salvador-abortion-crime-moral-panic-20170730-story.html)," Viterna offers a sociological explanation for why El Salvador is increasingly imprisoning women for reproductive “crimes.”