Church in Dominican Republic launches national effort against abortion

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, May 29, 2005 / 22:00 pm

As the Dominican Republic prepares to debate the possible legalization of abortion through the revision of the penal code, Archbishop Ramon Benito de la Rosa y Carpio of Santiago de los Caballeros and President of the Dominican Bishops’ Conference has called for a national campaign against abortion and its decriminalization.

The archbishop called on people to stop abortion, saying, “The family that unscrupulously supports a crime against someone indefensible” is like “a murderer who has no compassion for adults either.”

Those who have abortions, he said, “profane a tiny body of Christ that should be allowed to live, to be born, to grow and to develop.”

A congressional committee that is considering the bill will hold public hearings on the legislation on Wednesday.

The Church is demanding that abortion still be considered a crime and be listed as an attack on life, while a coalition of feminist groups are calling for it to be decriminalized.

The proposed revision currently has abortion classified as “the illegal interruption of pregnancy” and includes it as an act constituting an attack on life.