The Supreme Court of El Salvador is refusing to allow a seriously ill pregnant woman to get an abortion, even though her fetus is developing without a complete brain and has almost no chance of survival.

Lawyers for the 22-year old patient, known as “Beatriz”, say she is in fragile health, suffering from lupus as well as kidney failure.  The troubled pregnancy is a direct threat to her health.

A medical committee at her maternity hospital, the Ministry of Health and rights groups had all supported Beatriz's request to terminate her pregnancy, so that she could live to be a mother to her living child.

The 26-week old fetus is developing without a complete brain, a condition called anencephaly. Almost all babies born with this condition die before or shortly after birth.

But all abortions are prohibited in El Salvador under any circumstances.  And the constitution in the majority Roman Catholic country protects the right to life “from the moment of conception”.

Judge Rodolfo Gonzalez is one of the four judges out of five to rule against Beatriz.  He said the court could not be turned into a “tribunal to allow the interruption of pregnancies.”