Catholic bishops: legal abortion is ‘death penalty’

Santo Domingo.- Dominican Republic’s Catholic bishops Conference on Wednesday urged Congress to ratify the Penal Code as passed by both changer, citing Article 37 of the Constitutional mandate: "The right to life is inviolable from conception until death. The death penalty cannot be established, pronounced or applied, in any case,” among other reasons

They called the pending legislation the “legalization of abortion," which will dictate a "death penalty" to a totally helpless person, even it comes from rape of which it isn’t to blame, or could have some deformity.

"We praise and state our concern for the life of the mother, but it would be exclusionary and discriminatory if it only defends the rights of the mother and condemns to death the offspring in her womb, which also deserves a State, parents and the entire society the right to life and health, respect for their human dignity and physical and moral integrity, as Article 38 of our Constitution stipulates," the bishops said.