Aug 24, 2025, 2:33 PM ET

Dominican Republic pro-life laws stand, despite pro-abortion pressure

Lawmakers in the Dominican Republic have maintained the country’s commitment to the protection of preborn children in its new Penal Code, despite heavy pressure to legalize abortion.

Key Takeaways:

Lawmakers in the Dominican Republic passed a new Penal Code that upheld the protection of preborn children from abortion.
Pro-abortion groups had been pushing to allow induced abortion (intentional killing of a preborn child) in cases of rape, incest, fetal anomaly, and life of the mother.
Abortion groups have been actively working to expand abortion in Latin America for years.

The Details:

The Catholic Herald reported that on July 31, the Dominican Republic Chamber of Duties voted 159 to 4 in favor of a new Penal Code, which made changes to many of the country’s laws — including establishing penalties for femicide, cybercrime, and economic violence. Despite these changes and a heavy push from abortion advocates there was no change to the country’s law protecting preborn children from abortion. The new Code was signed into law on August 3 by President Luis Abinader.

ZENIT News described the vote as an undeniable pro-life victory, writing, “On July 31, 2025, the nation’s legislature delivered a decisive message: life in the Dominican Republic remains protected from conception to natural death — without exceptions.”

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Abortion advocates worked hard to update the Penal Code to allow abortion exceptions in cases of fetal anomaly, rape, incest, or if the life of the mother was at risk. According to ZENIT, the pro-abortion forces included a coalition of more than 20 feminist organizations as well as larger organizations like the Latin American Consortium Against Unsafe Abortion, the International Planned Parenthood Federation, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, among others.

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Attorney Loren Montalvo of Alliance Defending Freedom in Santo Domingo said that abortion proponents have been working for years to try and change the law.

“This fight [for the unborn] has lasted decades,” explained attorney Loren Montalvo of Alliance Defending Freedom in Santo Domingo. “They tried through the Health Code, then through the Penal Code. But every attempt ran into Article 37 of our Constitution.”

Why It Matters:

The Dominican Republic remains one of only a handful of Latin American countries that continues to protect preborn children from abortion, despite widespread pressure from pro-abortion groups. In 2014, President Danilo Medina signed an amended Penal Code, which allowed abortion in cases of rape, incest, or fetal anomaly, only for pro-life groups to appeal, and the amendment to be ruled unconstitutional.

Abortion groups have been working for years to expand abortion throughout Latin America — and in many cases, they have been successful.

Carlos Polo, director of the Latin American office of the Population Research Institute, told Zenit News that the fight is far from over.

“All these groups—local, regional, and international—coordinate to push abortion in Latin America,” he said. “In the Dominican Republic, they saw the Penal Code reform as their moment. They failed, but they will try again.”

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