Yesterday we blogged about the need for people to voice their opinions and lend support to the reproductive rights movement in the Dominican Republic.
- Unfortunately, we just got word from our colleagues at Ipas that yesterday the National Assembly voted by a huge majority, 167-32, to approve Article 30:
- This decision will have serious repercussions for the health and rights of women and girls in the Dominican Republic. While the word conception was not defined in Article 30, legislators and the Catholic Church have made it clear that they define life as beginning before implantation. This means that efforts to modify the penal codes that criminalize abortion would have no legal standing.
- Adding insult to injury, at yesterday’s session some legislators also discussed increasing the criminal penalties for illegal abortions.By defining life as beginning before implantation legislators and others can then argue that most forms of contraception, including IUDs, EC, and hormonal contraceptives, could be considered as violating the right to life.
Emphasis mine. Scary stuff indeed. According to our colleagues in Latin America, there is some possibility that some of this will be renegotiated. We’ll keep you updated as we know more.
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