IV 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 39 
Expressing the sense of Congress to support the case of Beatriz, a young 
woman from a rural area of El Salvador, living in extreme poverty 
and with lupus, who fought for her life against the state to allow 
her to terminate a pregnancy that put her at risk, which exposed the 
serious consequences of the absolute criminalization of abortion in El 
Salvador, and urging the Salvadoran state to assume its international 
obligations in the field of human rights. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 2, 2023 
Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia (for herself, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. LEE 
of California, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Ms. CROCKETT, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 
Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. 
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, 
Mr. PAYNE, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, and Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ) submitted the following 
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for 
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of Congress to support the case of 
Beatriz, a young woman from a rural area of El Sal-
vador, living in extreme poverty and with lupus, who 
fought for her life against the state to allow her to 
terminate a pregnancy that put her at risk, which ex-
posed the serious consequences of the absolute criminal-
ization of abortion in El Salvador, and urging the Salva-
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•HCON 39 IH 
doran state to assume its international obligations in 
the field of human rights. 
Whereas, in March 2013, Beatriz, a young woman living in 
poverty with lupus, was told she was 11 weeks pregnant 
with a high-risk pregnancy; 
Whereas Beatriz’s pregnancy was found to be unviable given 
the diagnosis of anencephaly; 
Whereas medical staff agreed that Beatriz’s pregnancy had to 
be terminated due to Beatriz’s deteriorating health and 
life endangerment; 
Whereas the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court 
of Justice denied Beatriz’s petition to provide her life-
saving abortion care and necessitated the Inter-American 
Commission on Human Rights to intervene and grant 
temporary precautionary measures in Beatriz’s favor on 
April 29, 2013, and the Inter-American Court of Human 
Rights issued a similar order on May 29, 2013; 
Whereas, on June 3, 2013, Beatriz underwent a cesarean 
section, and the anencephalic fetus died 5 hours later; 
Whereas Beatriz was denied access to a legal, early, and 
timely abortion in a case of an anencephalic pregnancy, 
which not only damaged her health, personal integrity, 
and life, but also violated the absolute prohibition of tor-
ture and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, 
and her right to live a life free from violence and dis-
crimination as is stated in the United Nations Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights and the International Cov-
enant on Civil and Political Rights; 
Whereas the United States has joined the international com-
munity in identifying reproductive rights as human 
rights, including in connection with the 1994 Inter-
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•HCON 39 IH 
national Conference on Population and Development, the 
1995 Beijing World Conference on Women, and through 
its ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and 
Political Rights in New York, on December 19, 1966, the 
International Convention on the Elimination of All 
Forms of Racial Discrimination in New York, on Decem-
ber 21, 1965, and the Convention against Torture and 
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Pun-
ishment in New York, on December 10, 1984; 
Whereas General Comment No. 36 (2018) on article 6 of the 
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 
which was adopted by the Human Rights Committee on 
October 30, 2018, asserts that states’ parties— 
(1) should ensure access for all persons to ‘‘quality 
and evidence-based information and education about sex-
ual and reproductive health and to a wide range of af-
fordable contraceptive methods’’; 
(2) ‘‘must provide safe, legal, and effective access to 
abortion where the life and health of the pregnant woman 
or girl is at risk, or where carrying a pregnancy to term 
would cause the pregnant woman or girl substantial pain 
or suffering, most notably where pregnancy is the result 
of rape or incest or is not viable’’; 
(3) ‘‘ensure the availability of, and effective access 
to, quality prenatal and post-abortion health care for 
women and girls’’; and 
(4) must not impose restrictions on the ability of 
women or girls to seek abortion in a manner that jeop-
ardizes their lives, subjects them to physical or mental 
pain or suffering, discriminates against them, arbitrarily 
interferes with their privacy, or places them at risk of un-
dertaking unsafe abortions; 
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•HCON 39 IH 
Whereas United Nations treaty-monitoring bodies established 
that abortion restrictions violate human rights, including 
the rights to life, health, and privacy, and the right to 
equality and nondiscrimination or freedom from torture 
and ill-treatment, among others; 
Whereas United Nations treaty-monitoring bodies have re-
peatedly recognized the connection between restrictive 
laws on abortion and maternal mortality due to unsafe 
abortion; 
Whereas access to the full range of sexual, gender-affirming, 
and reproductive health care, including abortion, is essen-
tial to the health and well-being of all people; 
Whereas reproductive and sexual health care providers ad-
minister high-quality, essential health care, and play a 
critical role in ensuring people are able to make decisions 
about their bodies and lives with dignity, empathy, com-
passion, and respect; 
Whereas no one should be criminalized for any pregnancy 
outcome; 
Whereas no one should be criminalized for providing essential 
health care; 
Whereas the threat of criminalization or prosecution can re-
sult in negative outcomes by intimidating people from 
seeking or providing care; 
Whereas health care providers have an ethical obligation to 
provide essential care to their patients and to protect the 
private medical information integral to the patient-pro-
vider relationship; 
Whereas Indigenous people, Afro-descendant people, people of 
color, people with low incomes, people living in rural 
areas, people with disabilities, migrants, LGBTQ+ indi-
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