Dominican cardinal calls on congressmen to address abortion issue coherently

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Sep 18, 2007 / 09:03 am

Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez of Santo Domingo is calling on lawmakers to “be consistent” in how they deal with abortion and to disassociate themselves from alleged international blackmail to legalize the practice in the Dominican Republic.

In statements to reporters, the cardinal mentioned lawmakers who have publicly rejected having received payments from overseas to promote abortion.  “I congratulate those who have not taken them, and I hope they act consistently,” he said.

Cardinal Rodriguez also referred to the violence that has swept Dominican society, and that his leaders need to address the root problems, which lie “in the family, in poverty and the lack of work—all of this generates violence, but for me the fundamental cause is poverty, which many people debate has not been sufficiently addressed.”

Presidential candidate Amable Aristy Castro of the Christian Social Reformist Party expressed support of Cardinal Rodriguez’s criticism of the pressure on lawmakers to approve abortion.

Castro denounced President Leonel Fernandez and the Dominican Liberation Party as responsible for keeping the abortion debate alive.  “Modernity and progress must not be symbolized by homicide, killing, the death penalty, which is what abortion is for the unborn,” he said.