Total Abortion Ban In Dominican Republic Has Cost Women's Lives, Social Media Campaign Warns

With a day barroom successful hand, well-known Dominican Republic comedian Carlos Sánchez recounted successful an Instagram post really 25-year-old Winifer Núñez Beato died successful 2021 aft doctors connected nan land refused to extremity her high-risk gestation because of nan country’s full abortion ban.

Núñez Beato near down a hubby and a young daughter. In nan video, Sánchez said nan barroom is not for his birthday, but alternatively to people different twelvemonth wherever he’s asking for women not to dice because of a rule that stops doctors from redeeming their lives.

Sánchez told NBC News he felt compelled to usage his level to raise consciousness because “it’s a barbarity that successful this time and property a mother has to put her life astatine consequence complete a risky gestation that could beryllium ended but nan rule prohibits doctors to do so.”

Sánchez is among galore artists and activists successful nan Dominican Republic taking portion successful a societal media run to push for amending a precocious passed penal codification that maintains a complete prohibition connected abortion. Many artists person utilized their platforms to show nan stories of Dominican women who person mislaid their lives to pregnancy-related conditions.

On Instagram, vocalist and character Techy Fatule tells nan story of Damaris Mejia, who went to 3 different hospitals erstwhile she started emotion sick and had a precocious fever. According to Fatule, aesculapian unit didn’t cognize what to do pinch Mejia’s high-risk pregnancy. She was sent location pinch painkillers and died that night. Fatule says doctors couldn’t prevention her because of nan ban, and ends pinch words, “Life is afloat of exceptions.”

The Dominican Republic is simply a blimpish state that features nan Bible connected its flag. The state signed a concordat, aliases agreement, pinch nan Vatican successful 1954 making Catholicism nan authorities religion, though nan constitution allows state of worship.

The country’s Catholic Church backs nan abortion ban, arsenic good arsenic evangelical groups. But Alianza Cristiana Dominicana, a group formed successful 2017 by women of different Christian denominations, is pushing for nan penal codification to see what are known successful nan region arsenic nan “tres causales,” aliases 3 causes aliases circumstances wherever ending pregnancies should beryllium allowed: erstwhile nan woman’s life is astatine risk, successful nan lawsuit of rape aliases incest, and erstwhile fetal malformations are incompatible pinch life. The “tres causales” are utilized successful different countries passim Latin America that person eased full bans connected abortion.

Alianza Cristiana Dominicana has collaborated pinch nan artists to stock nan stories.

So acold this year, location person been 100 documented maternal deaths successful nan Dominican Republic. Natalia Mármol, of nan Coalition for Women’s Lives and Rights, believes those lives could person been saved if abortions were legal.

“This is simply a conflict to guarantee minimum protection for life, wellness and dignity for girls and women,” said Mármol. “We are asking for minimal protections, truthful women don’t dice connected a infirmary bed. So a 13- aliases 15-year-old woman is not obliged to proceed pinch a gestation that is nan merchandise of a rape. And truthful a female tin determine erstwhile a gestation is not viable.”

The Dominican Republic’s erstwhile penal codification had been successful spot since 1884, and efforts to betterment it grounded for decades. The caller penal codification was approved by legislators and signed into rule by President Luis Abinader.

Abinader had antecedently expressed support for making exceptions to nan abortion ban, but aft winning re-election he didn’t push for changes.

After nan vote, Abinader said nan penal code, which covers galore types of crime, “is not nan perfect but it’s nan champion possible, since among different things, it substitutes authorities that dates backmost to 1884.”

Mármol said nan caller penal codification does see points that nan group advocated for, for illustration nan classification of femicide, nan intentional sidesplitting of a female aliases girl, arsenic good arsenic an summation successful nan severity of reward for intersexual assault.

She said nan caller penal codification does not spell into effect until August 2026 and location is clip to tweak nan rule to see nan 3 exceptions.

The Coalition for nan Life and Rights of Women and different groups person pushed for years to person nan 3 exceptions included, moreover erecting a camp successful 2021 successful beforehand of nan National Palace to unit parliament.

In nan Dominican Republic, women look up to 2 years successful situation for having an abortion and doctors and midwives tin person 5 to 20 years for terminating a pregnancy.

Four different countries successful Latin America and nan Caribbean support a full prohibition connected abortion, including Haiti, Nicaragua and El Salvador. Most of Latin America and nan Caribbean allows abortion successful constricted cases.

Caribbean-pop vocalist and songwriter Isabel de Dios said she has been progressive successful nan feminist activity passim her adulthood, often taking portion successful protests. Her first song, called “Colonizado,” aliases “Colonized,” talks astir really nine expects group to enactment wrong established roles and turns a unsighted oculus to galore situations.

She called nan penal codification “crazy,” “dictatorial” and “feudal.”

“What benignant of nine are we constructing?” she said.