Esperanza Martínez (politician)

Esperanza Martínez
Official portrait, 2023
Senator of Paraguay
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 June 2013
Minister of Public Health and Social Welfare of Paraguay
In office 15 August 2008 – 22 June 2012
President	Fernando Lugo
Preceded by	Oscar Martínez Doldán
Succeeded by	Antonio Arbo
Personal details
Born	Esperanza Martínez Lleida (1959-04-26) April 26, 1959 (age 65) Asunción, Paraguay
Political party	Public Participation Party
Other political affiliations	Guasú Front
Spouse	Carlos Portillo MD
Children	3
Parents	Benito Martínez Mercedes Lleida
Occupation	Medical doctor politician

Esperanza Martínez Lleida de Portillo (born 26 April 1959) is a Paraguayan medical doctor and politician, currently serving as senator since 2013.

She previously served as Minister of Public Health and Social Welfare from 2008 to 2012, under President Fernando Lugo.[1]

In May 2012 she was elected vice-president for the 65th World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization.[2]

She is an advocate of liberalizing implementation of laws regarding abortion in Paraguay to help a pregnant 10-year-old who was raped by her stepfather, complaining that to those who opposed the treatment, the unnamed girl "became a uterus. She became a birth canal."[3]

References

1. CIA World Leaders Archived May 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
2. Pan American Health Organization
3. "Paraguay senator says pregnant 10-year-old denied abortion 'became a uterus'". Associated Press. The Guardian. 10 May 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2015.