Dominican Republic shields country from abortion and euthanasia

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Sep 21, 2009 / 12:06 pm

With a vote of 128-32, the Dominican Republic’s National Assembly ratified on September 16 a revision of Article 30 of the country’s constitution, establishing the right to life and its inviolability from conception to natural death.
 
According to the newspaper Listin Diario, the new text points out that “the right to life is inviolable from conception to natural death. The death penalty shall not be established or imposed in any case.”
 
In an editorial, the paper said passage of the measure was a pro-life triumph against “the forces that untiringly” sought to legalize abortion, such as Amnesty International, which, together with other feminist groups, rejected the new reform.
 
It added that the “massive vote in support of the measure has proven the fundamental conviction of Dominican lawmakers regarding the defense not only of the unborn but all of all people, in any stage of existence, against the inclinations to relativize human life.”
 
The editorial pointed out that in many “civilized” societies, the unborn can be killed for almost any reason.  “This is based on a false supposition that at 14 weeks what is in the womb is not a person,” it stated, noting that internationally-funded organizations were seeking to subtly implant such a notion in the Dominican Republic.