The Governor of Puerto Rico says he will promote abortion legislation on the island if the Supreme Court rules it out

Puerto Rico plans to change its law on abortion 3:18

(CNN Spanish) -

The Governor of Puerto Rico, Pedro Pierluisi, said on Tuesday that if the Supreme Court of the United States annulled the constitutional right to abortion established by the Roe vs.

Wade, will promote a bill for the local legislature to regulate this practice with respect to "applicable law."

In Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States, abortion is legal based on the jurisprudence that in 1973 established the case Roe vs.

Wade, when the Court determined that a woman's right to an abortion was included in the right to privacy, protected by the Constitution, and that excessive restrictions could not be imposed on that intervention.

• Abortion rights in the US: how it compares to other countries in Latin America and the rest of the world

“If the Supreme Court were to leave this matter entirely in the hands of state and territory legislatures, like ours, then each jurisdiction would have the last word.

Here in Puerto Rico we have a constitution that includes and protects the right to privacy, among other rights that are relevant here.

So... but let's not get ahead of ourselves, we're going to wait for the Supreme Court's decision," Pierluisi said.

“Let's not get ahead of ourselves, that decision has not yet been issued.

We have to wait to see what the decision expresses at the time,” the president stressed, to affirm that “it is always possible to legislate at the state level, at the level of Puerto Rico.

That has always been so.

There is no obstacle to legislate.

What happens is that, if it is legislated, it has to comply with the applicable law.

That is, comply with our constitution, comply with the constitution of the United States.

And in the same way, to attend, as I said, to the legitimate approaches of all the parties interested in an issue as sensitive and at the same time controversial as this one, ”he said on his way out of an activity in San Juan.

That's how they talked about Roe vs.

Wade as Supreme Court nominees 2:50

This Monday the news portal Politico published a draft of a majority opinion written by Judge Samuel Alito that, if confirmed, would annul the rights recognized in Roe vs.

Wade and would annul the decision the constitutional right to abortion, to leave that legislation in the hands of the states.

The opinion would be the most important abortion decision in decades and would transform the landscape of reproductive health for women in the United States.

The president of the court, John Roberts, confirmed this Tuesday the veracity of the draft, although he warned that it might not be the final version.

advertising

Currently, the Senate of Puerto Rico is analyzing a proposal that seeks to restrict abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy, by establishing that everything conceived at that stage of gestation or more will be considered viable.

AbortionRoe v.

Wade