Key facts
- The mother of a teenage girl who died from cancer while pregnant is challenging the Dominican Republic's strict abortion ban.
- The challenge argues the ban violates rights to life, health, dignity, and equality.
- The lawsuit seeks abortions to be allowed in cases of rape, incest, danger to life or health, or fatal fetal abnormalities.
- The Dominican Republic's abortion ban is one of the strictest in the region, criminalizing it without exception.
- Women face up to two years in prison for abortions, while medical professionals face five to 20 years.
The mother of a teenage girl who died from cancer while pregnant is challenging the Dominican Republic's strict abortion ban, arguing it violates fundamental rights. Rosaura Almonte, 16, died in 2012 from leukemia while three weeks pregnant, and her mother, Rosa Herminia Hernández, stated that her daughter was denied necessary medical care.
The challenge, filed in the country's Constitutional Court with support from civil society groups, seeks to allow abortions in cases of rape, incest, when a woman's or girl's life or health is in danger, or when a fetus has fatal abnormalities. The Dominican Republic has one of the region's strictest abortion bans, criminalizing the procedure without exception, with penalties of up to two years in prison for women and five to 20 years for medical professionals.
Attorneys argue that the ban imposes a permanent criminal threat against women in medical emergencies and exacerbates existing inequalities, as women with financial resources can access care privately or abroad, while impoverished women face higher health risks and prosecution. The challenge highlights cases, including one in 2023, where a woman was detained for 10 days after an incomplete abortion despite her condition, and notes that health providers often report women to authorities. Government data indicates a high number of young mothers and reported rapes, with activists stating that unreported cases are significantly higher.