Between blue and green flags, the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies began yesterday the knowledge of the draft law of the Criminal Code of the Dominican Republic, with the reading of the report of the special commission that studied it for several months.
As soon as the doors of the Chamber of Deputies were opened, their actors tied flags and handkerchiefs to the respective places with the colors that identify their ideology in favor of life or termination of pregnancy under the three causes.
This new adornment in the seats of Members is due to the debate that is currently being installed in society as to whether or not abortion on the basis of three causes should be included in the new Criminal Code.
Just minutes before the session began, the chairman of the Chamber of Deputies’ justice committee, Alexis Jiménez, confirmed that the three cases were not included in the final report.
Dissident report
Due to this decision, the deputies members of this commission, José Horacio Rodríguez and Santiago Vilorio Lizardo, submitted a dissenting report, where they requested the introduction of the three cases in the draft law of the Criminal Code.
The President of the Chamber of Deputies, Alfredo Pacheco, ordered that the report of the draft law of the Criminal Code, which contains 412 articles, be read in parts in various working sessions and at the end be read the report of the dissident.
Yesterday, the first 76 articles were read, including the accumulation of sentences, which is when a persecuted person “is found guilty, in several separate trials, the sentences will be executed cumulatively.”
The reading will continue in the next sessions, once the dissenting report has been read, then the debates will continue, to end with the voting of both reports.
Subsequently, they will proceed to vote on the bill, which must be approved in two readings and then go to the Senate, which will first study the legislative initiative and must go through a process similar to that of the lower house.
The three causes
As Congressman Jiménez had announced, the three cases were removed from the legislative article and sent to a special commission for study.
However, Article 112 sets out a defense against a specific situation: ‘Interruption of pregnancy by medical staff specializing in public or private health institutions shall not be punishable if, in advance, in order to save the lives of the mother and the unborn child, all available scientific and technical means are exhausted as far as possible. In these circumstances, the conduct will be considered appropriate to justify the need.
KEY
Easter week.
Pacheco announced that next week the Chamber of Deputies will close for Holy Week, so the works will be resumed starting Monday, April 5th.
The law of observation.
Faced with the possibility of the Code being approved in this way by the majority of “pro-life” legislators, José Horacio Rodríguez and Juan Dionicio Rodríguez, they hoped that President Luis Abinader would respect the initiative.