Today I feel ashamed of being a Dominican. It is one of the six countries that shame the world for having a law that prohibits all types of abortion. We are fighting so that, at least, three grounds are accepted in the criminal code, when there is a pregnancy that meets these three situations:
Represents a risk to the life of the woman. In other words, the woman can die anyway, and her pregnancy may not end and the fetus dies with her. This happened to my mother, who through many consecutive pregnancies and losses, developed a heart problem that ended her life at 52 years of age.
We are five sisters. In the sixth pregnancy, the gynecologist explained to my father that his heart condition prevented him from reaching the fourth month, and that they would both die. Bravely, my dad asked her to prevent the pregnancy. That cannot be done today, and my mother would be destined to die, along with my future brother. If the doctor prevents the continuation of the pregnancy, he would be sentenced to 20 years in prison, according to the law that is intended to be approved.
-It is the result of rape or incest: this law intends that girls and adult women end a pregnancy, even if it is the product of rape or incest. Right now, a nine-year-old girl is being forced to have a child, after her father was raped. It is not just one, but thousands who live this every day in the Dominican Republic.
-There are fetal malformations incompatible with life: this is the height of cruelty and torture against women. In this case, the fetus has no future, because outside the uterus it dies. The mother is exposed to rot inside the womb, and she too dies from a huge infection. This is a vile murder.
In the Dominican Republic, voluntary interruption of pregnancy is penalized in any circumstance. Out of 195 countries, only six in the world criminalize abortion for any reason. We had the honor that the illustrious linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky spoke on the importance of approving the three grounds for the rights of Dominican women.
Right now, a group of women opened a camp in front of the National Palace, to demand from the President of the Republic, Luis Abinader, that this murderous law not be approved by the deputies and the Senate.
I ask the world for help. Enough of abuse against women. It is enough that the governments, almost always represented by men, and with the help of the Catholic Church, are the ones who legislate in this sense.
