Abortion Should be Legal in the Dominican Republic

Abortion Should be Legal in the Dominican Republic

“Abortion is a private decision, but I think it should not be federalized”. That is what Pat Robertson once said. This is a very contentious topic, and even though there are many reasons for abortion to be legal, a lot of people do not support this action mainly for religious beliefs. Laws in the Dominican Republic are very much against abortion, leaving most women without a choice. The Dominican Republic is one of the six countries around the world that does not allow women to get an abortion even if their lives are at risk. (Paiewonsky, 2011) Abortion should be legal for many reasons, but some of the most important ones are that laws against abortion kill women, and because motherhood should be a choice.

One of the main reasons why abortion should be legal in the Dominican Republic is because its illegality kills many women. Abortion in the Dominican Republic is strictly prohibited, not mattering if it puts the mother’s life at risk or any other circumstance. Even though it is not allowed in the Dominican Republic, many women choose to take a chance when they decide to get illegal abortions with, in many cases, inexperienced doctors. According to the Dominican Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 20% of women who get an illegal abortion die, (Paiewonsky, 2011) which means that around seventy women die every year because of illegal abortions. This cypher cannot be determined with much precision because this is an illegal act. Many deaths occur because of the poor conditions of the hospitals where women get these abortions. There is no doubt that the illegality of abortion has contributed to many maternal deaths.

Giving women the choice to decide whether they would like to be a mother or not is another good reason why abortion should be legal. There are many factors involved in a woman’s decision of becoming a mother, starting with economic issues. Many women who become pregnant cannot afford to raise a child in a proper way. When a woman is raped and becomes pregnant, she should be able to choose if she would like to keep the baby or not. Another involved factor is teen pregnancy. In 2002, 23 percent of all pregnant women in the Dominican Republic were teenagers. (Profamilia, 2011) A young woman who has no knowledge of pregnancy should not be deprived from choosing if she is able to raise the child or not.

However, there are many people who firmly believe abortion should be banned; pledging that abortion is murder no matter when a person believes life becomes official. Those who claim to have strong religious beliefs feel that God makes no mistakes and plants the seed of a child in each pregnant woman. (ChristiaNet, 2010) These people claim to be passionate about God and religion, and believe pregnancy is "God's will." It is important to remember that that every

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