A Cuban woman serving an eight-year prison sentence for participating in the July 11, 2021 protests in Cuba has said that authorities at the prison are trying to force her to terminate her pregnancy.
Lisdany Rodriguez Isaac fell pregnant following a conjugal visit by her partner, Luis Ernesto Jimenez, a number of months ago. The 25-year-old said she had always wanted a baby, and she is determined to continue the pregnancy.
According to her mother, Barbara Isaac Rojas, however, prison officials and a doctor at the facility have attempted to force her into having an abortion.
Ms. Isaac continues to experience harassment by prison authorities, despite being more than three months into her pregnancy, which—under Cuban law—makes it illegal for her to have an abortion.
Along with her twin sister, Lisdiani, both Ms. Isaac and her partner were jailed for participating in demonstrations in 2021 against Cuba’s communist regime, which were the largest protests since the 1959 Cuban revolution.
The Madrid-based human rights group Prisoners Defenders International (PDI) was the first to bring attention to Ms. Isaac’s case. The group filed a complaint with the U.N. Human Rights Commission based on the claims that the Cuban regime was demanding she terminate her pregnancy.
Since then, she has been put through multiple ordeals, including having been denied access to water, food, and medicine, according to PDI chief Javier Larrondo Calafat, who said that Ms. Isaac had at times gone for 14 hours without food while being subjected to constant verbal abuse.
The Isaac sisters are members of the Association of Free Yorubas, an Afro-Cuban religious group. Both were sentenced to eight years in prison for public disorder, disobedience, and assault on police officers in the wake of the 2021 protests. They have denied the charges brought against them.
Since the mass protests, several hundred people have been detained by Cuba’s communist regime. According to Human Rights Watch, nearly 400 convictions have been officially confirmed since.
The case has also brought attention to the suppression of religious freedom in Cuba.
It prompted a response from the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the freedom of religion and belief, as well as the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. They wrote to the Cuban government in November, condemning the communist state for “very serious accusations regarding the pattern of repression of religious freedom in Cuba, including the Yoruba.”
Ms. Isaac’s mother has made multiple attempts to get officials to address the situation, including attempts to have her daughter released on conditional bail.
“I learned that Lisdany was pregnant because of a row that I had with a guard at the prison, because he did not want to give food to her. She began bleeding. The captain of security refused to allow Lisdany conditional bail from prison,” she told VOA.
Her mother went on to say that Ms. Isaac was facing pressure to end her pregnancy from the very start. The prison doctor had begun the process for her abortion on the day of her first ultrasound.
“He started filling out papers to do tests and remove the fetus without involving her,” said Ms. Rojas, adding that her daughter had been desperate to get pregnant and stood firm in her decision to have the baby.
“She didn’t want to have an abortion. She desperately wanted to get pregnant. She has been with her boyfriend for years and never got pregnant,” her mother added.
Afterwards, Ms. Isaac was sent to see a psychologist, who also told her not to have the baby.
“The psychologist told me not to have the baby now, that I had to serve eight years and that there are no facilities [for babies and children] in prison,” Ms. Isaac told El Pais.
Ms. Isaac said she is happy despite the ordeal she has been put through.
“I was surprised. I really didn’t 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,” she told the paper.
Her mother said that Ms. Isaac is determined to withstand the challenges despite her mistreatment.
“She is being mistreated, without proper food, water, or medications, and her prison uniform does not fit. But she is happy to be pregnant, even if she is in prison,” she said.
According to Cuban law, abortion without the consent of the mother is considered a crime. Cuba was the first Latin American country to decriminalize abortion, which came into effect two years after the 1959 revolution. The current law states that abortions cannot take place after 12 weeks of gestation for normal pregnancies, and after 26 weeks due to malformations incompatible with life.
Mr. Calafat said the PDI has condemned Cuba’s regime for going against Ms. Isaac’s baby’s right to life, and for putting her and her unborn child through such anguish and torment—in addition to her being detained for her religious beliefs.
“Rodriguez is a young Yoruba believer who, for reasons of her religion, was arrested and detained for demonstrating in 2021. She and her boyfriend had wanted a child for years, but when she became pregnant, the regime tried to force her to abort, but she refused,” the PDI chief told VOA in a statement.
As is common during pregnancy, Ms. Isaac is having cravings for a variety of foods, which are not being provided for her at the prison.
She and her twin sister are being visited at Guamajal prison in central Cuba by her 62-year-old mother twice a month for two hours at a time, while Ms. Isaac’s partner does what he can to support her from his detention at the El Yabu prison.
When Ms. Isaac gives birth, the baby will spend a short time with her in prison before being cared for by her mother.
A 2022 publication of the National Fertility Survey shows that abortions in Cuba increased by 14 percent between 2009 and 2022, according to El Pais. The study shows the Cuban birthrate to be the lowest in the region. Independent reports of abandoned babies in dumpsters and on train lines have also surfaced.
While there have been some efforts by Cuba’s regime to increase the birthrate amid an ageing population, many people are highly reluctant to have children in a country controlled by an oppressive communist regime and mired in economic turmoil.
