Hundreds marched to Parque Independencia in the Colonial City to pressure the Chamber of Deputies to vote in favor of eliminating restrictions on abortion in the cases of incest, rape or fetus abnormality inserted in the Senate to the Penal Code.
The Chamber of Deputies house had originally passed the Penal Code prior to sending it to the Senate. In passing the bill, the deputies had agreed with the observations made by President Danilo Medina who on two occasions has vetoed the elimination of the abortion exceptions. The Senate, nevertheless, eliminated these exceptions to the ban on abortion in the Dominican Republic and passed the Penal Code with provisions that regard as criminal any person intervening in any way to assist in an abortion, as reported in El Dia.
Beginning on Sunday at 10 AM, protestors walked from 10am along El Conde to the Parque Independencia. Reading the march manifest, Arelis Ferrer said: “The penalization of abortion in any circumstance conspires against the physical and moral integrity of women.” She said that 13% of maternal deaths are caused by clandestine abortions.
The Chamber of Deputies has pending a vote to reject or pass the Senate eliminations of the exceptions. If the Chamber votes to reject, the Penal Code will once again have to be resubmitted to Congress as of the session that begins on 16 August 2017.
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26 June 2017
