{"id":238300,"date":"2021-01-19T11:52:15","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T17:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=238300"},"modified":"2021-01-18T18:21:08","modified_gmt":"2021-01-19T00:21:08","slug":"abortion-activists-pro-life-dominican-republic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-activists-pro-life-dominican-republic\/","title":{"rendered":"Abortion activists target pro-life Dominican Republic to be the next Argentina"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Dominican Republic appears to be the next country that pro-abortion activists have targeted in an attempt to make abortion acceptable and available in the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Dominican Republic, article 37 of the country\u2019s constitution assures protection for life from “conception to death,\u201d and abortion is not legal under any circumstance. <\/span>One of the world\u2019s most staunchly pro-life nations, the Dominican Republic\u2019s penal code has come under fire by activists who want to decriminalize abortion, and a shift in political currents may have made their goal achievable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In December of 2020, Spanish newspaper El Pais reported<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0the country\u2019s president, Luis Abinader, announced that both he and his political party, the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), support decriminalizing abortion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the country\u2019s previous president, Danilo Medina, also held this pro-abortion stance, the pro-life majority legislature blocked his efforts at changing the code. But in the most recent election, the pro-abortion PRM gained a majority in the country\u2019s legislature.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0\u2018Light Blue Wave\u2019: How the pro-life movement is spreading across Latin America<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Now, as reported by the Catholic News Agency<\/a>, the country\u2019s Chamber of Deputies has opened debate about a revision to the penal code that would decriminalize abortion in three cases: for the “health of the mother,” in cases of rape, and where “severe fetal malformation” has occurred.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In response, the country\u2019s Catholic bishops declared that “incorporating abortion into our legislation, in any circumstance, is a flagrant constitutional violation, and a blow to the social and democratic state of law. Approving the so-called three grounds would be a serious violation of the right to life that could only be based on a wrong interpretation of the Constitution.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Abortion activists in the Dominican Republic are employing green handkerchiefs in a manifest effort to link their pro-abortion efforts to symbolism used in Argentina. In a <\/span>tweet<\/span><\/a> by the pro-abortion Coalition for Women last month, abortion activists in the nation\u2019s capital Santo Domingo were waving green handkerchiefs were pictured outside Congress pushing for decriminalization: \u201cHandkerchief in front of \u2066<\/span>@CongresoRD\u2069 demanding decriminalization of #Aborto3Causales at #C\u00f3digoPenal.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Pa\u00f1uelazo frente al \u2066@CongresoRD<\/a>\u2069 exigiendo despenalizaci\u00f3n del #Aborto3Causales<\/a> en el #C\u00f3digoPenal<\/a>. pic.twitter.com\/cyacRMWa6b<\/a><\/p>\n

— Coalici\u00f3nPorMujeres (@CoalicionxMujer) December 16, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n