Just weeks before the Dominican Republic was about to legalize abortion in certain cases for the first time in more than a century, a Constitutional Court struck down reforms and reinstated a total ban on abortion this week.
Reforms that allowed women to terminate a pregnancy in cases of rape, incest, a malformed fetus, or when the woman’s life is in danger were passed by the Caribbean nation’s congress last year and were set to go into effect on Dec. 19.
A group of conservative and religious groups that filed the complaint said the reforms violated the nation’s constitution, which states, “the right to life is inviolable from conception until death.†The ruling cannot be overturned or appealed, according to the Associated Press.
“This decision takes women’s and girls’ human rights back to the 19th century,†Erika Guevara Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International, said in statement Thursday.
Rosas is not talking figuratively—the Dominican Republic’s total ban on abortion dates back to 1884. Human rights advocates have battled religious and conservative groups in the predominantly Catholic nation for years. Experts have noted time and again that banning abortion does not deter women from terminating pregnancies.
Unsafe abortions make up a significant portion of maternal deaths, with 47,000 women dying from unsafe abortions annually, according to the World Health Organization.
“Its impact will be catastrophic for women and girls in the Dominican Republic who will continue to be criminalized, stigmatized, and forced to seek out unsafe abortions because they are denied access to safe and legal medical treatment,†said Rosas.
An estimated 90,000 illegal abortions are performed in the Dominican Republic each year, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights.
Approximately a quarter of women across the world live in nations that outlaw abortion either entirely or if the mother’s life is at risk, according the Guttmacher Institute. Like the Dominican Republic, Chile, El Salvador, and Honduras also do not allow exceptions to save the woman’s life.
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Original article from TakePart
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