São Paulo, Brazil — Puerto Rico’s Governor Jenniffer González-Cólon signed a bill Thursday recogzining fetusesat any stage of gestationas “human beings”.
A press statement shared on social media by the Republican governor states that “the legislation aims to maintain consistency between civil and criminal provisions by recognizing the unborn as a human being.”
The new law amends Article 92 of the Puerto Rican penal code. It also classifies as first-degree murder the intentional and known killing of a pregnant woman, resulting also in the death of the unborn at any stage of gestation within the mother’s womb.
It follows the island’s House of Representatives’ approval of the law on January 29. At the time, House Speaker Carlos Méndez Núñez said it did not aim to specifically target abortion cases but the ones involving women killed while pregnant, mentioning the Keishla Madlane case.
Madlane was a Puerto Rican woman assassinated in 2021 while pregnant by her partner, the Olympic boxer Félix Verdejo-Sánchez, who was later sentenced to a life behind bars in 2023.
The high-profile case inspired the Keishla Madlane Law that constitutes murder in the first degree committed against a pregnant woman that results in the death of the child at any stage of pregnancy within the mother’s womb.
Abortion has been legal in Puerto Rico since 1937, even before the high-profile Roe v. Wade case in the mainland United States in 1973.
Today, the US has at least 30 states with restrictions to abortion in the country according to the “US Abortion Policies and Access After Roe” collected data by the Guttmacher Institute.
Who is Jennifer González
Governor Jennifer González became the Puerto Rico law recognizes fetuses as human beingsfirst woman elected to represent Puerto Rico in the US congress in 2016. Puerto Rico has a right to a representative inside the American congress with no-voting rights.
González first entered elected office as a representative in a 2002 special Election, as the Puerto Rico House of Representatives’ youngest member. In her third term, while 33, she became Speaker of the House.
González is also an ally of President Donald Trump. In January 2025, when González took office as the new governor, the republican leader sent a letter of support to her government.
Likewise, she recently congratulated Trump’s military operation in Venezuela, expressing that she “denounced the socialism that has held Venezuela captive.”
Featured image: Flags on a building in Puerto Rico (Deposit Photos)
