By a 167-32 vote, legislators in the Dominican Republic backed a constitutional amendment prohibiting all forms of abortion.The measure adds a clause to the Dominican constitution stating that “the right to life is inviolable from conception until death” and also acknowledges the country's stance on the death penalty which has been prohibited since 1924.
The Catholic Church in the Dominican Republic launched a massive campaign in its push to bar abortion even cases of incest or rape. Nevertheless, the move was decried by human rights groups, women’s rights organizations, and the Dominican medical community:
(…) the Dominican Gynecology and Obstetrics Society Wednesday warned that the number of maternal deaths will increase considerably, with the approval of the article that bans the interruption of pregnancies…The controversial measure was initially proposed by President Leonel Fernandez and he reportedly pushed lawmakers from his party to support it.
Moreover Association of Housewives Committees president Rosario Lopez said she regrets that the Assembly members approved the article without including some exceptions to protect women and doctors. “It strongly draws our attention the urgency with which the Assembly members approved this article without Dominican society and especially the women, being given the opportunity to consider the opinion of a team of professionals, as we had suggested.”
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Online Sources- Dominican Today, latina.com, Cleveland Leader, lifenews.com
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