When the child marriage bill was dilly-dallying in Congress, President Luis Abinader stepped in and motivated the ruling Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) majority to pass the legislation. But, in the case of the three grounds for abortion, another Abinader and PRM campaign promise, the President says he can’t tell the legislators what to do.
Speaking during a press conference at the Presidential Palace, Abinader said he could not impose his position. Abinader has said several times that he favors the three grounds for abortion. The three grounds have divided the Congress.
“This is an issue where I have to respect the opinion of each of the deputies. This is not an issue where we can lower a directive”. He stated his personal position is to favor the three grounds but that it implies religious issues. “In a party such as the PRM, which is a tolerant party, I cannot impose that position on deputies who have from the religious point of view, another type of thought and another type of idea. Therefore, we are respecting the position of each one of government branches as we did in the past”, said the President.
Notwithstanding this and after recognizing the division that exists in the Legislative Branch, the President said that the population will be the one to make, in due time, a majority decision. “But this is not even a party issue, it is an issue that divides the political parties represented in Congress,” insisted Abinader.
The three grounds to abortion has been debated in Congress for years. The Dominican Republic is one of the few countries that does not accept the exceptions. Former President Danilo Medina vetoed the Penal Code on two occasions when it passed in Congress without the three grounds. His Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) was then majority in both houses of Congress.
Former PRM deputy and today director of the ProSolidaridad Agency, the welfare government body, criticized the change of position of the PRM deputies. “Today’s @PRM_Official Deputies have always known the position of their party and our president. It’s a shame that some prioritize “supposed” electoral issues to what has been a history of defending the rights of Women, led by the PRM. #LasCausalesVan,” she wrote in her Twitter account.
Leidy Blanco García, coordinator of the civic society watchdog movement, Participación Ciudadana (PC) urged that politicians and President Luis Abinader fulfill their campaign promises. “Then, he cannot now come out and say that is his personal position. He [Luis Abinader] has to use his leadership in the party,” said Blanco. PC movement has expressed his support to the three grounds. When opposition, Luis Abinader and PRM representatives in Congress backed the three grounds.
Read more in Spanish:
El Caribe
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
N Digital
N Digital
19 March 2021