SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico has approved a new law expanding its murder statute to cover the killing of unborn children, deepening legal protections for the unborn in the U.S. territory.
Gov. Jenniffer González-Colon, a Republican, on Thursday signed an amended version of Senate Bill 923, known as the Keishla Madlane Law, which recognizes unborn babies as human beings for purposes of the Penal Code. The measure is named for Keishla Madlane Rodríguez Ortiz, a pregnant woman killed in 2021 by former boxer Félix Verdejo-Sánchez, a case that drew widespread outrage.
In a written statement, González-Colon said the goal is to align civil and criminal law “by recognizing the unborn child as a human being,” reinforcing that a violent act that ends a pregnancy can be treated as the killing of two victims. Abortion remains legal in Puerto Rico when a woman’s life or health, including mental and socio-emotional health, is at risk, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights.
National and local pro-life organizations praised the change as a landmark victory. SBA Pro-Life America called the enactment a “historic moment” and “a powerful example and a win for moms and babies,” while Students for Life of America president Kristan Hawkins thanked the governor for affirming the view that life begins at conception.
Medical leaders and abortion-rights advocates, however, warn the policy could put pregnant women and their doctors in legal jeopardy. Dr. Carlos Díaz Vélez, president of Puerto Rico’s College of Medical Surgeons, told The Associated Press the law will drag complex clinical decisions into criminal law and said it advanced without medical recommendations or robust public hearings.
The move follows a separate measure González-Colon signed in December, Senate Bill 504, which revises the Civil Code to state that every human being, including the conceived child at any stage of gestation, is a natural person with legal personality from the moment of conception, for all favorable purposes such as inheritance, insurance claims and certain labor and property rights. The statute specifies that representatives, including parents or court-appointed guardians, may act on behalf of the unborn child, while stressing that these new rights do not diminish a pregnant woman’s legal authority to make decisions about her pregnancy under existing law.
The ruling bolsters Texas’ protections for unborn children while signaling that, at least for now, federal officials cannot use emergency care laws to override the state’s pro-life safeguards.
