Dr. Victor Terrero, the executive director of the National Council for HIV-AIDS (Conavihsida) visited legislators on 17 April 2018 to lobby for the passing of the bill that would establish exceptions to the ban on abortions in the Dominican Republic. A Commission of Justice of the Chamber of Deputies has maintained the ban.
Dr. Terrero says that abortion is not a crime, but a result of social problems. He reminded the legislators that women are the majority vote. He framed the upcoming vote as whether the Dominican Republic will have feudal or modern laws concerning the health and wellbeing of women. He said what is up for discussion with the article on abortion in the Penal Code is the rights of Dominican women.
Terrero said that unsafe abortions cause around 14-16% of the maternal deaths in the country. He said the five countries where abortion is a crime have the worst indicators of health and the highest fertility rates. A group of feminists protested also outside Congress highlighting that the Dominican Republic is among the nations most affected by high mother mortality and teenage pregnancies, together with Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Suriname.
Terrero said that countries that have de-penalized abortion have the best indicators of maternal and reproductive health. He urged the legislators to heed the recommendations made by President Danilo Medina when he vetoed the changes to the Penal Code and not the “historic error” made by the Justice Commission that studied the code. He said an adequate legal platform is needed so that policies to improve women’s health can be implemented. “The legislators want to impose a feudal penal code that will do more damage than good in solving problems that affect women,” he said.
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Listin Diario
18 April 2018
