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4d ago

Puerto Rico Enacts Law Defining the Unborn as Human Beings in Murder Statute

Medical groups along with civil-rights advocates warn the change could pull medical decisions into criminal law.

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Governor Jenniffer González Colón, accompanied by the President of the House of Representatives, Carlos Johnny Méndez, Senator Migdalia Padilla, and Treasury Secretary Ángel Pantoja, signs the legislative resolution proposing to send, as a refund, checks to individual taxpayers with net income of up to $150,000, in the Hall of Mirrors at La Fortaleza, Old San Juan.
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Overview

  • Gov. Jenniffer González signed Senate Bill 923 on Feb. 12, revising the Penal Code to define a human being as including the conceived unborn at any stage of gestation.
  • The law specifies that intentionally and knowingly killing a pregnant woman, resulting in the death of the conceived child, constitutes first-degree murder.
  • Named for Keishla Rodríguez, the measure follows the 2021 killing that led to former boxer Félix Verdejo receiving two life sentences.
  • González said the move aligns civil and criminal provisions; abortion remains legal in Puerto Rico under current law.
  • Doctors, the ACLU, and abortion-rights advocates cite the lack of public hearings and warn of legal ambiguity, privacy intrusions, and “defensive” care that could limit treatment for complicated pregnancies.