President Luis Abinader says he backs incorporating the three exceptions to the ban on abortions in the Dominican Republic. The Penal Code has been on hold for years as religious groups oppose any exceptions.
TV and radio news talk host Diana Lora reported that Abinader made the remarks when hosting a special lunch for the media at the Presidential Palace. Yet the President says he understands the position of the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Alfredo Pacheco, Lora said when reporting on the presidential lunch for her La Cuestion talk show.
Pacheco removed the section on abortion from the Penal Code, arguing that what is important now is to pass the criminal code. Pacheco favors submitting a separate bill with the exceptions to abortion.
Women groups say that if an abortion bill is heard separately, the exceptions will not pass.
For years, the Penal Code has languished in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. Former President Danilo Medina vetoed it on two occasions. Medina was a strong supporter of including the three grounds for abortion in the bill.
Representatives of civil society have been urging the legislators to act to guarantee the life and health of women. They stress that this is a fundamental right that must be preserved and no particular interests, be they political or religious, can intervene.
The grounds for abortion would be the risk to the mother’s life, when the fetus is unviable, and when the pregnancy has resulted from rape or incest.
Conservative sectors, primarily religious entities, strongly oppose decriminalizing abortion. At present, abortion in any form is a crime, with jail sentences for the mother and the assisting physician.
Those that are against the approval of the three exceptions say approving these will covertly legalize abortions in the country. Women’s health advocates do stress that today the wealthy can travel abroad for safe abortion, while the poor need to risk their lives in unsafe conditions.
A bill with the exceptions was recently sent for review by a Senate committee.
10 September 2020