SAN JUAN (AP) — The governor of Puerto Rico signed a law Thursday that amends a rule to recognize a fetus as a human being, a measure that, according to doctors and legal experts, will have profound repercussions for the United States territory.
The amendment was approved without public hearings and amid concerns from opponents, who warned that it would spark confusion and affect the way doctors and women who are pregnant or potentially pregnant are treated.
The new law will lead to “defensive medicine,” warned Dr. Carlos Díaz Vélez, president of the College of Surgeons of Puerto Rico.
“This is going to bring complex clinical decisions to a criminal law area,” said Díaz Vélez in a telephone interview.
She noted that women with complicated pregnancies are likely to be rejected by private doctors and end up giving birth in the continental United States or in Puerto Rico’s largest public hospital, and noted that the island’s deteriorating health system is not prepared.
“This is going to have disastrous consequences,” he said.
Díaz indicated that the amendment also allows a third person to intervene between a doctor and a pregnant woman, which will violate privacy laws, adding that new protocols and regulations will have to be implemented.
“The system is not prepared for this,” he said.
Gov. Jenniffer González, a Republican and supporter of President Donald Trump, said in a brief statement that “the legislation is intended to maintain coherence between civil and criminal provisions by recognizing the unborn conceived as a human being.”
The amendment, contained in Senate Bill 923, was made to an article of the Puerto Rico Penal Code that defines murder.
The government noted that the amendment complements a law that, among other things, classifies as first-degree murder for a pregnant woman to be killed intentionally and knowingly, resulting in the death of the child conceived at any stage of gestation. The law was named in honor of Keishla Rodríguez, who was pregnant at the time she was murdered in April 2021. Her partner, former Puerto Rican boxer Félix Verdejo, was convicted and sentenced to two life sentences.
Some celebrated Thursday’s amendment, while some opponents warn that the law opens the door to the eventual criminalization of abortion in Puerto Rico, where they remain legal.
“The zygote was given legal personality,” said Rosa Seguí Cordero, lawyer and spokesperson for the Free, Safe and Accessible Abortion Coalition in Puerto Rico. “Women are left without our rights.”
Seguí listed possible scenarios, including whether a zygote, or fertilized egg, would be entitled to health insurance and whether a woman who loses a fetus would be suspected of murder.
Díaz pointed out that even doctors could be considered suspects of murder and condemned the fact that public hearings were never held nor the medical sector consulted.
“The problem is that medical recommendations were not followed here,” he said. “This is a serious blow… It puts us in a difficult situation.”
Among those who condemned the measure is Annette Martínez Orabona, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Puerto Rico.
He highlighted that a broad discussion of the bill was not allowed, which he stated is essential because the penal code establishes the most severe penalties.
“There is no doubt that the measure did not receive adequate analysis before its approval and leaves a space of ambiguity unacceptable for civil rights,” he said.
“The legislative leadership did not fulfill that responsibility it has to the people and neither did the governor,” he added.
This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.
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date: 2026-02-13 01:41:00