Abortion was made illegal in all cases in the Dominican Republic last week.
Well I am Dominican and I have something to say about all this. I wrote to Feministing about this a few days ago. I live in the country and watched with horror as most legislators argued that they 'took the Church´s position' on this on live TV.
First of all, I think it is an outrage that this piece of legislation was passed on first lecture, I believe in a woman's right to choose particularly because I live in a country where 100,000 women risk their lives every year to get the procedure done, I know all the methods, from teas to jeans water to instruments to places where to go. Some of my friends have had illegal abortions but there are deeper issues at hand when you talk about illegal.
I have some money, or better said, my family has some money so if I, my sister's or my friends need to have an illegal abortion we know of places that are relatively safe and clean. We also can take pills or provoque the abortion ourselves and then go to a gyno that is accepted by our health insurance and problem solve. Or we can just fly ourselves to Miami or Cuba where is perfectly legal.
The women that are affected are not the rich ones or the well off. The scary thing is that these pregnancies are forced, sometimes literally, on women who are poor and whose child would make them even more so. Sometimes women as young as 12 and 11 years old, repeatelly raped by their relatives or young women in college or rural parts of the country.
Abortion has always been illegal in the country. Always, but now they have taken this one step further and add the 'since the moment of conception' part. Some legislators in the same party of Pres. Fernandez had proposed the use of the words 'in general' so that women who are raped, victims of incest and whose health is at risk could end the pregnancy but the Cardinal, a real piece of work who calls pro-choicers and feminist 'butchers and carnivors and murderers', a man whose job is to mind everything political and every decision made in the country, lost all of his shit and started demonazing the people who supported this special cases abortions. So two of of the tree mayority parties started making speeches in congress that usually began with: 'As a catholic...', 'I am a christian...' or the always useful 'God said very specifically...'
There where legislators, about 32 that did no wanted this to happen. The society of ob-gyn protested against this, dominican feminist groups to but they would be call ignorants or murderers or worse yet, in national masses the priests would pray for them to convert in their positions because they just didnt know what they where doing.
Women and young women in the country and also men have to be pushed and quizz to get their real positions. The country if polled would say that they are against abortion but if you ask about their daughters being raped, their wives life's being threaten or incest, they would reconsider. I know that because I have asked. Some wont give shit but most understand if you tell them that what the woman feels and thinks about a pregnancy, a forced one, is important.
Some people in other sites have look at President Fernandez, the man who proposed the change in the legistation, and blamed him and curse him, people in the international community because they understand that we as a society are high past the time when a woman had to die helpleslly because of a pregnancy.
I point fingers at him and blame him too. He's action was irresponsible and unnecessary. But I voted for him in the past and if I had to vote tomorrow I would vote for him again. Here's why:
It may seem like an extreme position that he asked congress to pass but the problem with abortion legislation or the problem with the country's position on abortion is not him. It's a whole system. The Catholic Church's influence is so great that no matter the party in power, it sways the law and it control's the debate. I hate what he did but I take him as my president over any other any time because he is, as hard to believe as it may sound, the most progressive candidate. It is either him and his party, that have made huge changes in infranstructure, education, investment in the youth and yes, women or ultraconservaties parties that have no vision for the country and only make themselves richer.
I wish I could have an openly pro-choice candidate but that is a utopy in a country where we have no separation of church and state and have a Concordat that makes the Church the practical forth party and nobody is even considering change that. This legislation is a big fuck you to women and it sucks that I have to choose between evils but sometimes in countries like mine, thats all you have. I am tired of stupid politicians running my country, like, literally stupid and this party is the only one with progressive ideas as crazy as this may sound, and I know that if progress will come to my country it will be from the party that has the 32 senators and diputades that challenged this piece of shit and not the two other party that pulled the christian card and are willing to just lay there for the Church to provide thought.
There is such a thing of going backwards in an already sexist, anti-choice, ultraconservative country.
Last week they said what was already known, that abortion is illegal but they also enacted legislation that said that men and women by law have to be paid equally and that you cannot be discriminated against for gender, age and such.
I have no idea if you get my point but put simply, I just know from being a dominican feminist that this is not something to justify but it could be way worse if those other right wing parties take over. This is baby steps we are talking about here.
This will be appeal if not during the second revision of the law reform proyect then in a couple months or years. I hope with all my might that the debate that was finally opened in our society will continue and eventually, I have no hope for at least 10 years, we will joint the world in women's right to choose.
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Thanks for reporting on this. 2009 and we are still fighting...
Yes, thank you for writing this and thank you for fighting for women's rights. God, the Catholic Church hierarchy disgusts me!
'The women that are affected are not the rich ones or the well off. The scary thing is that these pregnancies are forced, sometimes literally, on women who are poor and whose child would make them even more so. Sometimes women as young as 12 and 11 years old, repeatelly raped by their relatives or young women in college or rural parts of the country."
Thank you, this is a perfect point. The system is holding back resources to those that really need it.
Thank you , great piece.
-Sophia
Thank you for writing this Raquel. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for you. I get so upset with the fact that the abortion debate is still going on here and yet there are places like the DR where it is far much worse. I only hope that the Dominican Republic will go up from here. Te deseo suerte a ti y a todas las femenistas Dominicanas en esta lucha dura.
Thank you so much for sharing your plight with us Raquel. For those of us who share your pain and frustration, we can only hope that the government in the Dominican Republic will see the error of its ways and break free from its enslavement to the Catholic church. We deserve the right to do as we please with our bodies and not have men, and especially "Christian" men, dictate who we choose to let live or die.
The availability of abortions for our reproductive health here in the United States and around the world seems to be improving since President Obama was elected. Hopefully he will be able to use his powerful influence to convince the Dominican Republic to join other more "progressive" nations like Cuba and China to join with him in support of his pro-choice cause.
Stay strong Raquel.
Raquel, thank you for posting this. I study gender issues in Latin America and the Dominican Republic unfortunately often falls off the radar. I am so sad to hear this... it is outrageous and it is in violation of international human rights law. There is an established notion that provisions regarding human rights cannot be diminished or chipped away at by the state. I hope you continue to fight this! You have our support!