Abortion in the Dominican Republic

Up until October 2012, women who had abortions could seek medical care without fear of arrest or interrogation.

In October 2012, the Dominican Republic debated Article 90 of the Penal Code, which prescribes criminal penalties for women who seek an abortion and for those who provide it or help provide it. Amnesty International appealed to Parliament to consider decriminalizing abortion, with the following statement:

The proposed penal code flies in the face of women's and girls' human rights and maintains a situation in which health professionals are prevented from providing the best care for their patients, The criminalization of abortion in all circumstances, as maintained in the new legislation, violates women's rights to life, health and not to suffer torture or ill treatment and discrimination and it goes against international human rights commitments made by the Dominican Republic.

The appeal pointed out that unsafe abortion and fear of prosecution contribute to the high rate of maternal mortality that the World Health Organization reports in the country.

Nevertheless, the Chamber of Deputies approved prison terms for inducing or helping with an abortion. "Abortion will also be punished with from 2 to 3 years and includes women who induce or a person who helps. If a doctor, nurse, midwife, surgeon, pharmacist or other professional helps induce an abortion, the penalty would be from 4 to 10 years."

In July 2012, the Dominican Republic's harsh anti-abortion laws came under fire when a 16-year-old girl known as "Esperancita" was suffering from acute leukemia and was being denied treatment for her cancer because her chemotherapy might harm or kill the fetus. Doctors reportedly feared that they would be prosecuted or lose their right to practice medicine if they treated her. It took 10 weeks of debate before lawmakers decided that it would not be illegal for Esperancita to receive treatment to save her life. Dr. Antonio Cabrera reported that Esperancita had died on August 17, 2012, shortly after suffering a miscarriage followed by cardiac arrest. She was 13 weeks pregnant at the time of her miscarriage.

The pro-choice movement in the Dominican Republic is focused largely on creating exceptions to Article 37 and more recent work to overturn restrictions on abortion access. These exceptions include cases in which the mother’s life or health is at risk, or in which the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest. These have come to be known as “Las Tres Casuales,” or “the three causes,” among pro-choice activists.[14]

Regarding the adoption of Article 37, The Dominican Gynecology and Obstetrics Society warned that the number of maternal deaths will increase considerably, because pregnancies can not be interrupted. The society's president, Aldrian Almonte, said the current figure of 160 deaths for each 100,000 live births per year will increase, because doctors would be reluctant to proceed from fear of being charged in cases where they must decide on the interruption of a pregnancy to preserve the parent's life.[15]

Protest marches were held by the National Resistance to Constitutional Backwardness and the Women's Forum for Constitutional Reform. Feminist Denise Paiewonsky asked Congress to amend the article before adopting it; otherwise it would limit women's options for reproductive health. If not one fertilized egg could be discarded, the amendment would outlaw both in vitro fertilization and forms of contraception such as the intrauterine device (IUD) and the day-after pill.[16] The article was adopted without these amendments[15]

On July 15, 2018, a group of pro-choice activists protested the criminalization of abortion in all circumstances. This protest took place in Santo Domingo and was referred to as Caminata por la Vida, la Salud, y la Dignidad de las Mujeres: Aborto en tres casuale (March for Life, Health, and Dignity of Women: Abortion in Three Cases). The protesters argued that abortion should be legalized if one of "the three causes" were present. The groups that came out to protest included members of the Tertulia Feminista Magaly Pineda (Magaly Pineda Feminist Gathering), a group that has been active since 2016 in support of constitutional reform. Other groups at the protest were the Coloquio Mujeres (Women’s Colloquium), which has been active since 2017 in the fight for abortion access, and the Consejo Nacional Para la Mujer Campesina (National Council for Campesina Women, CONAMUCA), one of the oldest feminist groups that has been active since the 1970s.[17]

Pro-choice activists gained ground in late 2020 when President Luis Abinader stated his support for the three causes. Abinader later walked back his position after backlash from the Catholic Church, saying instead he should not impose his personal opinion on the country.[18]

In March of 2021, as a new penal code that maintained an absolute ban on abortion was being discussed in Congress, a group of activists set up camp outside The National Palace. The group called for exceptions for the tres causales, which Abinader had previously supported. The activists camped outside the National Palace for over two months and organized a large rally on March 23, 2021, in support of the causales.[19] Although the process to approve the penal code is ongoing, the bill has moved forward without exceptions to the ban. Activists have tried to protect abortion rights through congress but have largely been unsuccessful. In February of 2023, a senator from Perreme introduced a bill that included exceptions for the three causes. Constitutional lawyers have called this move a “fiction” because they believe that the bill will likely not pass the Senate.[19]

Organizations such as the United Nations Program for Human Development, Amnesty International, and the Association of Housewives Committees have also condemned the government’s moves to criminalize abortion.

Pro-choice activists in the Dominican Republic also argue for education in schools about sexual and reproductive health, broader access to general health services, and increasing access to education for young women who are pregnant or have children.[20] A new program to add incentive for using contraceptives was designed to give students an idea of the workload involved in caring for a newborn baby. Called "Bebé, Piénsalo Bien", the program was sponsored by The Dominican Republic's First Lady, Margarita Cedeño de Fernández. In May 2006 as a pilot program was launched at one school in Santo Domingo. The project lends electronic babies to students for a weekend. The program also urges parents to talk about pregnancy and child-rearing with their children.[8]

The anti-abortion movement has historically received support from both the Roman Catholic Church and Dominican national government.[11] The Dominican Catholic Church, which has played an active role in the fight against abortion, holds the belief that the right to life must remain absolute. In response to 2021 debates surrounding the decriminalization of abortion, the Catholic Church has maintained its same zero-tolerance position on abortion.[21] Since the Dominican Republic ratified Article 37, anti-abortion efforts by the national government have acted primarily as a response to the pro-choice movement. Following 2021 activism in favor of decriminalization and recognition of “Las Tres Causales,” the Dominican senate approved a new code in February of 2023. Awaiting approval from the Chamber of Deputies and President Abinader, the legislation codifies punishments for abortion and does not make exceptions for “Las Tres Causales.”[14]