The Dominican Republic’s public health system reported 9,459 abortions in 2024, according to new figures from the National Statistics Office (ONE). The data was released as part of ONE’s Socio-Demographic Statistics Yearbook, which also includes information on education, employment, and poverty, Listin Diario reports.
The vast majority of the procedures —9,243 of them— were performed within the National Health Service (SNS), the public hospital system. Other cases were reported at the government-owned Central Hospital of the Armed Forces (56), the General Hospital of the National Police (3), and private charities and non-governmental organizations (157).
Regionally, the Ozama area led with 3,026 abortions, encompassing cases in both the National District (527) and Santo Domingo (2,499). It was followed by Cibao Norte with 960 and Cibao Sur with 554.
Listin Diario report highlights that the high number of reported procedures contrasts sharply with the country’s strict laws. Abortion is a crime in the Dominican Republic, with no exceptions for rape, incest, or fatal fetal abnormalities. The country’s constitution guarantees the right to life from conception until death.
Under the current Penal Code, a person who has an abortion faces a prison sentence of two to five years. For medical professionals, the penalty is even steeper, ranging from five to 20 years.
Earlier this month, President Luis Abinader signed a new Penal Code into law, which, despite numerous modifications, maintains the complete criminalization of abortion. While it does not decriminalize the procedure, it introduces an exception for medical professionals.
The new code states that an interruption of pregnancy will not be sanctioned if a specialized health professional performs it to save the life of the mother, the fetus, or both, after all available scientific and technical means have been exhausted.
The new Penal Code is scheduled to go into effect in 12 months.
Legislators that have resisted to vote for the approval of abortion or even the three exceptions — to prevent the death of the pregnant person, to protect the physical health of the pregnant person, and in cases of rape or incest — have argued that there have been no sentences in court for abortions and thus vote to keep the status quo and please the clergy.
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Listin Diario
8 September 2025