AMERICA/DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - Bishops' Letter to Assembly members who voted in favor of life: “Do not fear pressures, because our people appreciate all those who have acted in favor of their country.”

Santo Domingo (Agenzia Fides) – The Dominican Republic Bishops' Conference sent a letter signed by all the Bishops to the Members of the National Assembly for the Revision of the Constitution, congratulating them on having supported life. The National Assembly of the Dominican Republic (DR) passed a decision upholding Article 30 of the Constitution, which establishes the sacredness of innocent human life from conception until natural death (see Fides 23/4/2009), in a sweeping victory of 167-32.
The letter reads: “We know that you are subject to a large quantity of national and international pressure that labels you as old-fashioned, opportunists, two-faced, among other things, on the part of those who do not recognize that the sacred character of their position should always respond to the truth and the interests of the Nation.” Many claim that “with the approval of Article 30, we have returned to the Dark Ages, to an age of religion without science, violating the rights of women to decide about their bodies.”
However, the Bishops express their conviction that this has truly been an advancement and that the Assembly members “have voted for a modern and humanist Constitution that respects the rights of all human beings,” as “no Constitution in the world has recognized the most recent discoveries in the area of genetics, embryology, and cellular biology, which are the ones who have scientifically proven that life begins from conception.”
The Bishops consider that “being unaware of the value of life from the moment of conception and approving abortion implies going backwards 1,000 years.”
Moreover, the Bishops say that the Assembly “has shown itself to be advanced and open-minded” in its reception of delegates from international organizations that have given their opinion “on internal matters of our nation.” They also reflect on the word-play used to mask intentions of imposing a global plan of demographic control on the Constitution, using terms like “gender equality,” gender perspective,” and “sexual and reproductive rights.”
The Bishops conclude their message to the Assembly members who voted in favor of life in spite of threats from those who encouraged them to vote against it: “Do not fear pressures, because our people appreciate all those who have acted in favor of their country.” They assured them of their prayers and blessing, in the hopes that they will “always work in favor of laws for the common good of our people of the Dominican Republic.” (RG) (Agenzia Fides 15/5/2009)