Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Santo Domingo (Agenzia Fides) – The National Assembly of the Dominican Republic, on April 21, by a landslide vote of 167 to 32 ruled to maintain Article 30 of the Constitution as is. Article 30 establishes the sacredness of innocent human life from conception until natural death.
Since the text of the proposal of the Article was made known, media reports were made in favor of and against it, however it seemed probable that it would be approved by the Government. The approval of the Article, which will be number 11 in the future Constitution, will take away the possibility of decriminalizing abortion, as it says: “Right to life is an unalienable right from conception until death. The death penalty will not be established, declared, nor applied in any case whatsoever.” The Article was approved with a unanimous vote from the members of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) and the Social Christian Reform Party (PRSC), while it only gained partial support from members of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD).
The day before the vote, the Archbishop of Santo Domingo, Cardinal Nicholas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez, had expressed his hope that the Dominican Republic's lawmakers would not approve the plan to decriminalize abortion in the country and that they would maintain the respect for life from the moment of conception. “We hope and believe in the majority of our lawmakers, who are respectable persons opposed to the decriminalization of abortion, as many of them have stated that in their right conscience, they consider it a crime,” the Cardinal said in a Mass before 20,000 faithful on the Ffeast of Divine Mercy (2nd Sunday of Easter. After commenting that the majority of the lawmakers are aware of the reality of life and that they reject the crime of abortion, although there are a few who oppose on unknown grounds, the Cardinal criticized the fact that institutions and individuals who receive foreign funding to promote abortion continue insisting that the country should consider legalizing the crime. The Archbishop of Santo Domingo also asked that the Mercy of God come upon the lawmakers and the people who promote the death of unborn children. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 23/4/2009)
