The UN Human Rights Committee urges the Dominican Republic to decriminalize abortion in pregnancies that pose a risk to the life of the woman, are the result of rape or incest, and where the fetus will not survive outside the womb.
The abortion issue has become a major obstacle for the passing of the revised Criminal Code. It is strongly opposed by the Evangelical and Roman Catholic churches in the country. Legislators have delayed voting, fearing the wrath of the influential religious sectors.
President Danilo Medina has on two occasions vetoed the bill asking that abortion be decriminalized in the three circumstances.
The UN Human Rights Committee observations are made in the concluding observations on the civil and political rights record of the country by the Committee. In its recommendations to the country adopted after the evaluation of the sixth periodic report of the Dominican Republic on 16-17 October 2017, the UN Human Rights Committee expressed its concern about the criminalization of the voluntary interruption of pregnancy, with jail penalties. The UN Committee insists that “there should be no criminal sanctions against women and girls who undergo an abortion or the medical service providers who assist them, since such measures force them to resort to unsafe abortions.”
The experts of the Committee specifically ask the Dominican state to “modify its legislation to guarantee legal, safe and effective access to the voluntary interruption of pregnancy when the life or health of the pregnant woman or girl is at risk”.
Also in the event that “carrying out the pregnancy may cause substantial harm or suffering to the pregnant woman or girl, especially if it is the result of rape or incest or when pregnancy is unviable.”
The Committee further affirms that the Dominican Republic should not regulate pregnancy or abortion in all other cases if it is contrary to its obligation to ensure that women and girls do not have to resort to unsafe abortions.
The recommendation of the UN Human Rights Committee comes after defenders of women’s rights in the Dominican Republic affirmed last week that the decriminalization of abortion in extreme situations “cannot wait any longer”.
The proposed text of the Criminal Code establishes that women who induce the termination of their pregnancy will be liable to two to three year-imprisonment sentences. Health professionals who perform abortions under any circumstances other than risk to the pregnant woman or girl’s life will be liable to four to 10 years in jail. Under the proposed amendment, terminating a pregnancy is only available in one case: when there is a risk for the life of the pregnant woman or girl.
Experts on woman rights say that in comparison with the text of the Criminal Code adopted in 2014, the new proposal to amend the Dominican Criminal Code constitutes a clear regression in women’s and girls’ rights, especially to access safe healthcare services.
As of 14 October 2017, 153 women had died of causes related to pregnancy, according to the Magaly Pineda Feminist Forum, which also stated that the Dominican Republic ranks fifth in pregnancies of girls and adolescents in the region, something that also worries the UN Committee. According to the country’s Ministry of Public Health, unsafe abortions cause 10% of maternal deaths in the Dominican Republic.
The divergent position of the Dominican legislators on abortion has delayed the passing of the Criminal Code for years.
Read more:
Listin Diario
OHCHR
See Concluding Observations
13 November 2017
