High Court in Dominican Republic Brings Back Total Abortion Ban
A court in Dominican Republic has blocked a new law that would have decriminalized abortion in cases where a pregnant women’s life was at risk. The court has reinstated a total ban on abortion across the nation.
The Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling, which upholds a law from 1884, cannot be appealed. The new law had been scheduled to go into effect on December 27. Human rights groups are not happy with this decision and have spoken out against the ruling. Amnesty International stated that the Dominican Republic has, with this new law, taken a massive step backwards for women’s human rights and this will take women’s and girls’ human rights back to the 19th century.
Happy Marriage, one of the groups that filed the complaint against the new lawomw, said that it violated the country’s constitution, which states that the right to life begins at conception. The Tribunal is expected to issue a statement on the ruling within a few days.
