SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) 鈥� Puerto Rico鈥檚 governor on Thursday signed a bill that amends a law to recognize a fetus as a human being, a move doctors and legal experts warn will have deep ramifications for the .
The amendment was approved without public hearings and amid concerns from opponents who warned it would unleash confusion and affect how doctors and pregnant or potentially pregnant women are treated.
The new law will lead to 鈥渄efensive health care,鈥� warned Dr. Carlos D铆az V茅lez, president of Puerto Rico鈥檚 College of Medical Surgeons.
鈥淭his will bring complex clinical decisions into the realm of criminal law,鈥� he said in a phone interview.
He said that women with complicated pregnancies will likely be turned away by private doctors and will end up giving birth in the U.S. mainland or at Puerto Rico鈥檚 largest public hospital, noting that the island鈥檚 crumbling health system isn’t prepared.
鈥淭his will bring disastrous consequences,鈥� he said.
D铆az noted that the amended law also allows a third person to intervene between a doctor and a pregnant woman, so privacy laws will be violated, adding that new protocols and regulations will have to be implemented.
鈥淭he system is not prepared for this,鈥� he said.
Gov. Jenniffer Gonz谩lez, a Republican and supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, said in a brief statement that 鈥渢he legislation aims to maintain consistency between civil and criminal provisions by recognizing the unborn child as a human being.鈥�
The amendment, in Senate Bill 923, was made to an article within Puerto Rico鈥檚 Penal Code that defines murder.
The government noted that the amendment complements a law that among other things, classifies as first-degree murder when a pregnant woman is killed intentionally and knowingly, resulting in the death of the conceived child at any stage of gestation. The law was named after Keishla Rodr铆guez, who was pregnant when she was killed in April 2021. Her lover, former Puerto Rican boxer F茅lix Verdejo, received after he was found guilty in the killing.
Some cheered the amendment signed into law Thursday, while opponents warned that it opens the door to eventually criminalizing abortions in Puerto Rico, which remain legal.
鈥淎 zygote was given legal personality,鈥� said Rosa Segu铆 Cordero, an attorney and spokesperson for the National Campaign for Free, Safe and Accessible Abortion in Puerto Rico. 鈥淲e women were stripped of our rights.鈥�
Segu铆 rattled off potential scenarios, including whether a zygote, or fertilized egg, would have the right to health insurance and whether a woman who loses a fetus would become a murder suspect.
D铆az said doctors could even be considered murder suspects and condemned how public hearings were never held and the medical sector never consulted.
鈥淭he problem is that no medical recommendations were followed here,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is a serious blow 鈥� It puts us in a difficult situation.鈥�
Among those condemning the measure was Annette Mart铆nez Orabona, executive director for the American Civil Liberties Union in Puerto Rico.
She noted that no broad discussion of the bill was allowed, which she said is critical because the penal code carries the most severe penalties.
“There is no doubt that the measure did not undergo adequate analysis before its approval and leaves an unacceptable space for ambiguity regarding civil rights,” she said.
“The legislative leadership failed to fulfill its responsibility to the people, and so did the governor.鈥�
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