Mexican woman murdered for refusing to have abortion

by Sofia Vazquez-Mellado

March 18, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Mexican authorities revealed last week that a 31-year-old woman who died in January in the state of Puebla was murdered for refusing to have an abortion. Her killers are reportedly facing up to 70 years of jail time.

According to state prosecutors, Karla Lopez was killed by assassins hired by boyfriend Manuel Forcelledo, who had repeatedly demanded that she have an abortion and refused to assume financial responsibility for the child.  She was five months pregnant at the time of her murder.

Prosecutors say that Manuel personally beat Karla, aided by Rodrigo Solis, one of two hired thugs, until she lost consciousness. Moises Cordero, the second hired criminal, strangled her to death. Solis hid the victim’s body inside her own car’s trunk, which he drove to Mexico City and later abandoned.

“My daughter was a very strong woman,” said the victim’s mother, Esperanza Albert, to the Mexico City newspaper Milenio.  “She always fought for her baby, and they took her life away for trying to save her baby.”

According to the local national news media, Karla and Manuel had been romantically involved since June 2013. In October, Karla found out she was pregnant and informed Manuel, who asked her to abort.

Local media say he had taken her to abortion clinics twice and had also given her money to get an abortion, all of which she refused all the while asking him to instead pay for health insurance for her and the baby.

“My daughter fought, she fought for her baby because she was a girl of principle,” said the victim’s mother to the media.

Esperanza explained it was Karla’s friends who made this information known to her after her daughter’s disappearance, as Karla had kept her pregnancy secret from her parents, with whom she lived.

On January 30, Karla told her mother she was going to dinner with Manuel. Karla’s friends said he had told her to meet so they could finally talk about getting health insurance. They agreed to meet in an events venue owned by Manuel’s parents.

The hired assassins were waiting for her inside the building. They were paid about 265 USD each for the murder.

On February 2, Karla’s car was discovered in Mexico City, with her body inside. Four days later authorities identified her as a reported missing person and her parents were called to the morgue to identify her body.

“I ask that justice be made,” said her father, Carlos Lopez, in an interview with MilenioTV. “Only a narcissistic psychopath could have taken the lives of my daughter and grandchild.”