Senate approves in first reading the Penal Code without the three causes

The Senate of the Republic approved on first reading the draft Law of the Dominican Penal Code and its changes, which criminalize abortion. The item, which was accepted in the first reading by a vote of 23 out of a total of 27 senators present, excludes three factors that have long been debated in Dominican culture. The senators rejected a proposal presented by Faride Raful, senator for the National District, to amend article 112, so that health professionals who carry out procedures in health centers authorized by the Ministry of Public Health to preserve the life of the woman prior to 12 weeks of gestation, are not penalized, in cases where they are forced to interrupt the pregnancy, especially when the mother’s life is in danger, and when the fruit of the pregnancy is the child.

The spokesman for the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), Aris Yvan Lorenzo, proposed excluding article 110 of the piece, as well as everything that has to do with abortion so that it is known in a special law. It was also rejected by 21 of the 27 senators present. The spokesman for the Social Christian Reform Party (PRSC), Ramón Rogelio Genao, explained that the approved piece penalizes elective abortion, after considering that abortion is murder.

“It will also be a discouragement for criminals, who will have to face the accumulation of penalties, the prescription of corruption in 20 years, and other important points, we are taking a leap into the 21st century, respecting the Constitution of the Republic.”