The Dominican Republic may break with its conservative neighbors to legalize abortion under certain conditions. On the gray cobblestones outside the National Congress of the Dominican Republic in Santo Domingo, women of all ages sang, clapped and stomped their feet. They held signs reading “El Futuro Es Feminista!” (The Future Is Feminist) and “Por riesgo de vida y salud de las mujeres, yo appoyo las tres causales,” (For women’s life and health risk, I support the three causes). Their voices chanted in unison, calling for Congress to legalize abortion if the mother’s life is in danger, if the life of the fetus is in danger, or in cases of rape and incest. Their demands — at a July 2018 protest — might sound modest in many countries that have long allowed abortion. But the Dominican Republic is one of six Central American and Caribbean countries, including El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua and Suriname, and among 26 nations globally, with a total ban on abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Women who get an abortion face up to three years in prison and health professionals who perform or assist in abortions could receive between four and 10 years of jail time. Now, the Dominican Republic is taking steps to break with its neighbors, emerging as the latest test for abortion rights in a notoriously conservative region. | 