The Dominican Republic is one of few countries in the world which has a complete ban on abortion, even when a pregnancy is life-threatening, unviable, or the result of rape or incest. Scores of Dominican women, and those who can get pregnant, die each year from botched abortion attempts.

Earlier this year, the country’s total ban on abortion once again came under public scrutiny. The Dominican Congress has begun work on reforming the country’s 1884 criminal code, which imposes prison sentences of up to two years on women and girls who have abortions and up to twenty years for medical professionals who provide them.

Activists have demanded that tres causales be included in the criminal code. This would permit abortion in cases when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, it endangers the life or health of the mother, or if the fetus will not survive.