A new law declaring that everyone has “legal personality and capacity from the moment of conception” rejects the kind of dehumanizing statutory language that has helped society normalize and even celebrate the killing of the unborn.
Puerto Rico has taken an important step to support unborn babies after Gov. Jenniffer González-Colón, R, signed new legislation recognizing them as human beings.
Senate Bill 504, which became law on February 12, represents a major development in the fight for life. The law states,
“Every human being has legal personality and capacity from the moment of conception and is a subject of law for all purposes that are favorable to him or her. The inheritance rights that the law recognizes in favor of the unborn child are subject to the event of birth. The representation of the human being in gestation corresponds to whoever will exercise it when he or she is born and, in case of impossibility or incapacity, to a legal representative or court-appointed guardian.”
Among the benefits the law cites are “protection that parents could claim from health insurance companies, in personal injury lawsuits, in donations and property rights, and even in the context of labor rights that their parents could claim on behalf of the unborn child, among others.”
Supporters also argue that it brings consistency to Puerto Rico’s laws by matching civil and criminal definitions regarding unborn life. The legislation amends portions of the Penal Code to formally recognize the unborn child as a human being.
González said the measure is about legal transparency rather than abortion policy. According to the legislation’s language, she stated that it “aims to maintain consistency between civil and criminal provisions by recognizing the unborn child as a human being.”
While advocates celebrate the change, the new law does not prohibit or restrict abortion in Puerto Rico, which remains legal. Instead, supporters say the focus concentrates on strengthening protections surrounding violence against pregnant women and ensuring that existing laws speak consistently about unborn life.
The amendment, included in Senate Bill 923, revised a section of Puerto Rico’s Penal Code dealing with the legal definition of murder.
According to government officials, the change works alongside an existing law that classifies it as first-degree murder when a person intentionally kills a pregnant woman and causes the death of her unborn child at any point during pregnancy. The measure is named in honor of Keishla Rodríguez, a pregnant woman who was murdered in April 2021. Her boyfriend, former Puerto Rican boxer Félix Verdejo, was later found guilty in the case and sentenced to two life terms in prison.
The change follows earlier efforts to acknowledge personhood in Puerto Rico’s civil law. Previous amendments to the Civil Code affirmed recognition from conception in specific contexts, such as inheritance rights.
Pro-life groups quickly praised the signing, despite its limitations. Kelsey Pritchard, communications director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said the new law “is a historic victory for babies and moms across the island and a powerful example for lawmakers throughout the United States.”
She added, “Science is clear that a new, distinct human life begins at conception, and this law reflects that reality. It sends a clear and hopeful message: Every single person has value and deserves a chance at life.”
Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life, publicly applauded the new law in a statement to Life News, saying,
“Puerto Rico’s clear and courageous recognition of preborn babies as persons reflects a deep respect for life and provides a powerful example for lawmakers throughout the United States. Legal personhood for the preborn is not only consistent with science and human dignity but is the foundation upon which a culture of life can flourish.”
Advocates believe the measure has lasting consequences because it sets a legal precedent. By embedding personhood language into law, they say future lawmakers may have a clearer foundation for pursuing further reforms.
The argument surrounding personhood laws has intensified across U.S. jurisdictions in recent years, particularly following the Dobbs ruling that returned more authority over abortion policy to states and territories. Puerto Rico’s action is likely to add momentum to similar proposals elsewhere and draw scrutiny from groups on both sides of the issue.
For now, the signing signifies a major chapter in Puerto Rico’s legal history, showing a growing movement to define unborn life more explicitly and accurately within the law.
This moment in Puerto Rico represents more than a legal change. It is a historic move in a long battle over how society views human life. Recognizing unborn children as human beings opposes a longtime effort to use language to desensitize people to the reality that abortion involves the taking of human life.
The shift did not happen overnight. It began quietly, using medical terminology that sounded neutral and scientific. Doctors and pro-abortion advocates began referring to unborn babies only as a “zygote” or a “fetus.” Those words can describe stages of development, but they also helped remove the personal connection many people instinctively feel toward a child in the womb.
Over time, public conversation moved toward expressions like “clump of cells,” referring to the unborn not as a developing human life but as something disposable. Today, pro-life activists openly encourage women to celebrate abortion and “shout” their abortions, and in response, many women today will describe an unborn child as a “tumor” or “parasite.”
Each step has made it easier for society to think about the unborn as somehow less than human. In a country that 40 years ago demanded abortion to be “safe, legal, and rare,” state residents in blue and even red states have voted for ballot measures that make “reproductive healthcare” a constitutional right and allow abortion up to birth, for any reason.
The result is we now have abortion laws that allow late-term and partial-birth abortions, medical pressure on women to abort babies diagnosed with disabilities, and countries like Iceland, which has enabled the near elimination of babies with Down syndrome through prenatal testing and abortion.
These developments are the natural consequence when human worth is measured by convenience, health, or alleged usefulness rather than by the inherent value given by God.
Scripture presents a very different perspective. The Bible says God knows each person before birth from conception, forms life intentionally in the womb, and calls human beings image bearers. Christianity teaches that value does not come from ability, independence, or circumstance. It comes from the fact that we are image bearers of God Almighty.
Puerto Rico’s law does not end the abortion debate, but it does represent a step away from language that dehumanizes the unborn. It reminds society that words matter because words shape belief, and belief shapes action. When a culture recognizes a life as human, compassion and protection become more important. For Christians, the significance of the moment stands as a call to restore biblical truth to the conversation about life.
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