SANTO DOMINGO, April 22, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Dominican Republic
has voted to approve language in its new constitution protecting the right
to life from the moment of conception.

Article 11 of the new constitution, which was approved by a large majority
of 167-32, states that "the right to life is inviolable from conception
until death. The death penalty cannot be established, pronounced, nor
applied, in any case."

The approval of the article came in the wake of a series of massive
campaigns by the Catholic bishops of the Dominican Republic, led by Cardinal
Archbishop Nicolas de Jesus Lopez of Santo Domingo.

The Cardinal has organized marches, has given a speech on national
television, and has staged large-scale protests outside of government
buildings and in other places over the past two years.

On Easter Sunday, a little more than a week before the vote, the Cardinal
and other priests gave sermons on the importance of protecting the right to
life (see LifeSiteNews coverage at
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09041703.html).

The nation's Evangelical Protestant churches have also had a major influence
on the outcome. Organized by such leaders as Dr. Gene Antonio, they have
succeeded in playing video of abortions on national television and have
distributed tens of thousands of flyers to Dominicans.

"We are thrilled that the protection of human life from the moment of
conception is now established into the constitution in spite of fierce
international pressure to legalize abortion," stated Antonio. "This
overwhelming victory serves as an example to the other Latin countries
fighting to protect life, that we can win and we must win because the lives
of little people are at stake."

The article passed despite pressure from pro-abortion groups, whom Catholic
Church officials have accused of representing the international abortion
lobby, as well as opposition from the Dominican Medical College.

Passage of article 11 ensures that the Dominican Republic's existing penal
code, which punishes abortion in all cases except when the life of the
mother is at stake, will remain intact despite the pressure exerted by
international and domestic pro-abortion organizations.