{"id":308830,"date":"2024-03-18T16:44:42","date_gmt":"2024-03-18T21:44:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=308830"},"modified":"2024-03-19T12:02:59","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T17:02:59","slug":"jailed-protester-cuba-pressured-abort-baby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/jailed-protester-cuba-pressured-abort-baby\/","title":{"rendered":"Jailed protester in Cuba claims authorities have tried to pressure her to abort her baby"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When an imprisoned woman who protested the oppressive regime in Cuba got pregnant, she was repeatedly pressured to have an abortion, according to her mother.<\/p>\n

25-year-old Lisdany Rodriguez Isaac is a member of the Free Yoruba Association of Cuba (Asociaci\u00f3n de Yorubas Libres de Cuba, or \u201cFree Yorubas\u201d), and in 2021, participated in what was described as a peaceful protest, according to<\/a> the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.<\/p>\n

For this, she was sentenced to eight years in prison, and is described as being persecuted for her religious identity and association.<\/p>\n

Voice of America News (VOA) recently reported<\/a> that Isaac got pregnant after being permitted a conjugal visit with her partner, Luis Ernesto Jimenez, who is imprisoned for the same reasons. \u201cI was surprised,\u201d she told El Pa\u00eds<\/a>. \u201cI really didn\u2019t expect it. I have been trying for many years and have never succeeded. And a child is a blessing from God, no matter the circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both outlets reported that almost immediately, prison doctors began pressuring Isaac to have an abortion. The doctor even began to process the paperwork to go through with the abortion, even though Isaac didn’t want it. \u201cHe started filling out papers to do tests and remove the fetus without involving her,\u201d her mother, B\u00e1rbara Isaac Rojas, said. \u201cBut she didn\u2019t want to. She was dying to get pregnant. She has been with her boyfriend for nine years and had never gotten pregnant.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Isaac continued to refuse, they sent her to a psychologist to try to convince her to go through with the abortion. \u201cHe told me not to have it now, that I had eight years to serve and that there are no facilities [for babies and children],\u201d Isaac said.<\/p>\n