Julian Martínez As leaders of U.S.-based reproductive rights organizations and Puerto Rican women, we watch in dismay as the government of Puerto Rico adds another chapter to its history of control and coercion over women’s bodies on the island. In the name of “protecting life,” the government adopted new laws that would grant separate legal rights for fertilized eggs, embryos, and fetuses. One law, S.B. 3, Law 166-2025, creates a new type of homicide by establishing separate victimhood status for a fetus, despite the fact there was already a law addressing violence against pregnant women resulting in pregnancy loss. The other, S.B. 504, Law 183-2025, amends the civil code to define a “natural person” from the moment of conception, affecting multiple legal rights.
