Activists Protest Bill to Keep Total Abortion Ban in the Dominican Republic

The Dominican Senate will approve a new bill that would to continue to criminalize abortion in any circumstance

Dominican Republic Abortion

By Sofía Aguilar
July 26, 2024

Over the past few years, we have seen different developments in the fight for abortion rights across Latin America. Last year, Mexico’s Supreme Court made headlines for decriminalizing abortion, allowing doctors and medical facilities who refused to complete the procedure to be taken to court. However, there are other countries who have continued to restrict or outright ban abortion and reproductive freedoms like the Dominican Republic.

This month, the Dominican Senate announced that they are days away from giving final approval to bill for a new criminal code that would keep the total abortion ban in place. It was introduced to the Senate in June, which was given initial approval, and it will soon become codified in national law. The code will criminalize abortion with no exceptions, even if the mother’s life is at risk, if the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, or if the fetus will not carry to term. In response, local abortion rights activists have taken to the streets to protest, arguing that this code will drastically impact the lives of women and all people who can become pregnant and give birth, the Associated Press reported.

Continued: https://hiplatina.com/dominican-republic-anti-abortion-protests/

Dominican activists protest against a new criminal code that would maintain a total abortion ban

Activists in the Dominican Republic are protesting against a bill for a new criminal code that would retain a total abortion ban

By MARÍA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ Associated Press
July 17, 2024

Activists in the Dominican Republic protested on Wednesday against a bill for a new criminal code that would keep in place the country’s total abortion ban.

The Dominican Senate gave initial approval to the bill in late June and lawmakers are expected to give it final approval in the next few days.

“We continue to fight,” said feminist activist Sergia Galván, who along with fellow protesters have asked for legal abortion when the woman’s life is at risk, when a pregnancy is the product of rape or incest, and in cases of fetal malformation incompatible with life.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/dominican-activists-protest-new-criminal-code-maintain-total-112054507

Dominican Republic’s Senate Doubles Down on Abortion Ban in Criminal Code

Bill Reduces Penalties for Sexual Violence, Excludes LGBT People from Protection

Stephanie Lustig, Research Assistant, Women’s Rights Division, Human Rights Watch
July 3, 2024

A deeply problematic bill for a new Criminal Code is now approaching final approval in the Dominican Republic's Senate. The bill, which the Senate approved on first review on June 26, maintains the country's complete ban on abortion. It also reduces penalties for sexual violence within marriage, classified as ‘non-consensual sexual activity,’ and continues to exclude sexual orientation from the list of characteristics protected from discrimination, thus failing to afford equal protection to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.

The Dominican Republic is one of only five countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that maintains a total prohibition on abortion and imposes incarceration for women and girls seeking abortions, as well as for those performing them. For decades, women's rights organizations have called for access to safe and legal abortion.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/07/03/dominican-republics-senate-doubles-down-abortion-ban-criminal-code

03.07.2024

News

abortion law reform

criminalization of abortion

decriminalization of abortion

U.S. abortion rights setbacks spark fears in Latin America

Concerns in Latin America that abortion rights could face setbacks similar to those in the U.S. are adding urgency to the protests planned for International Women's Day this Friday, Marina writes.

March 5, 2024
Marina E. Franco

Why it matters: Regions of Latin America already are some of the most dangerous in the world for people who wish or need to terminate a pregnancy.

Threat level: Abortion bans can jeopardize the lives of women in trauma situations where continuing the pregnancy puts a woman's life at risk. Last month, Adilka Féliz, a senator's legal aide in the Dominican Republic — where there is a full ban on abortion— died from complications after an emergency premature birth procedure. She had an unviable pregnancy but was denied an abortion, her mother says.

Continued: https://www.axios.com/2024/03/05/international-womens-day-abortion-terminate-pregnancy

‘I can’t bear the pain’: grieving the lives lost to the Dominican Republic’s abortion ban

A decade after Rossa Nelly Aquino died aged 20 in an illegal clinic, her family are still struggling to find answers. And campaigners are still fighting to update the 140-year-old law

Sarah Johnson in Santo Domingo
Mon 4 Mar 2024

One of the walls in Alba Nely Peña’s front room is adorned with graduation photos of her children. She gave birth to three boys and three girls, but only five smiling faces are on display in her house on the outskirts of Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic.

“My youngest one died. I took her photo down because I can’t bear the pain,” she says, before going into a back room and digging out a framed collage of photos of her daughter. On it are written the words: “We will always remember you, Rossa.”

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/mar/04/i-cant-bear-the-pain-grieving-the-lives-lost-to-the-dominican-republics-abortion-ban

In the Dominican Republic, I Saw Broken U.S. Abortion Policy Firsthand

U.S. lawmakers spoke out about abortion access in the Dominican Republic. The Biden administration didn't back them.

JAN 16, 2024
GARNET HENDERSON

In early December, a delegation of U.S. state lawmakers traveled to the Dominican Republic as part of a trip organized by State Innovation Exchange and the Women’s Equality Center. I was one of a group of journalists, and the only one based full time in the United States, who tagged along.

The lawmakers on the trip were New York assembly members Karines Reyes, Amanda Septimo, and Jessica González-Rojas—the former executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice—along with North Carolina state Sen. Natalie Murdock and Arizona state Sen. Anna Hernandez.

Continued: https://rewirenewsgroup.com/2024/01/16/in-the-dominican-republic-i-saw-broken-u-s-abortion-policy-firsthand/

What does a total abortion ban look like in Dominican Republic?

BY MARÍA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ
January 2, 2024

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — The Dominican Republic is one of four Latin American nations that criminalizes abortion without exceptions. Women face up to 2 years in prison for having an abortion, while the penalties for doctors or midwives range from 5 to 20 years. Abortion rights activists argue that the country’s total abortion ban not only restricts women’s reproductive choices but also puts their lives in danger.

Here’s a look at the country’s ban.

Continued: https://apnews.com/article/dominican-republic-abortion-ban-women-catholic-church-5890252153c3b451b16b62b4aa3fe26d

How Dominican women fight child marriage and teen pregnancy while facing total abortion bans

BY MARÍA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ
January 2, 2024

AZUA, Dominican Republic (AP) — It was a busy Saturday morning at Marcia González’s church. A bishop was visiting, and normally she would have been there helping with logistics, but on this day she was teaching sex education at a local school.

“I coordinate activities at the church and my husband is a deacon,” González said. “The bishop comes once a year and children are being confirmed, but I am here because this is important for my community.”

For 40 years, González and her husband have pushed for broader sex education in the Dominican Republic, one of four Latin American nations that criminalizes abortion without exceptions. Women face up to 2 years in prison for having an abortion; penalties for doctors or midwives range from 5 to 20 years.

Continued: https://apnews.com/article/dominican-republic-abortion-child-marriage-teen-pregnancy-45a2dd71fc006c413ae1386f601e912d

Arizona, Dominican Republic both grapple with 19th century abortion laws

BY: GLORIA REBECCA GOMEZ
DECEMBER 26, 2023

In Arizona, the state’s highest court is considering whether to restore a near-total abortion ban from 1864, and in the Dominican Republic, women are fighting against an all-out ban from 1884.

The just 20-year difference separating the two laws was striking for Sen. Anna Hernandez, D-Phoenix, who traveled to the Caribbean country earlier this month to learn what awaits women in Arizona if access to abortions is cut off.

Continued: https://www.azmirror.com/2023/12/26/arizona-dominican-republic-both-grapple-with-19th-century-abortion-laws/

26.12.2023

Anna Hernandez

Arizona Abortion Access Act

Human Rights Watch

Jennifer Driver

near-total abortion ban

Dominican Republic: Submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child – 94th Session

Human Rights Watch
August 31, 2023

The National Confederation of Rural Women (Confederación Nacional de Mujeres del Campo or CONAMUCA), Network of United Youth Voices (Red Juvenil Voces Unidas), the Coalition for Women’s Life and Dignity (Coalición por la Vida y la Dignidad de las mujeres), and Human Rights Watch write in advance of the 94th session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (the “Committee”) and its review of the Dominican Republic. This submission addresses articles 3, 6, 24, 28, and 29 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and covers access to abortion and specific aspects of the right to education.

The total abortion ban in the Dominican Republic, in effect since 1884, threatens the health and lives of girls, women, and pregnant people, and is incompatible with the country’s international human rights obligations.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/08/31/dominican-republic-submission-un-committee-rights-child

31.08.2023