Mexico's Supreme Court decriminalizes abortion nationwide

The decision builds on an earlier High Court decision and reflects how Latin American countries are expanding women's rights.

Mexico's Supreme Court decriminalized abortion nationwide on Wednesday in a sweeping ruling that builds on an earlier ruling giving authorities the power to authorize abortion. state-by-state proceeding.

The court struck down the federal penal code that criminalized abortion, deeming it "unconstitutional" and making abortion legally available in all facilities federal health authorities in the country. She also spoke out against banning medical providers, including midwives, from performing the procedure.

The ruling in Mexico, a predominantly Catholic country of 130 million people, shows how nations in Latin America are playing a leading role in expanding abortion rights.

"I'm very moved and very proud," said Rebeca Ramos, executive director of GIRE, a leading abortion rights group that filed an injunction last year against Mexico's 1931 regulations that criminalized abortion. procedure. "It makes possible what we haven't realized for many years, which is that at least in some institutions across the country, legal and safe abortion services can be provided."

Mexico's Supreme Court first ruled that the criminalization of abortion was unconstitutional in 2021, but the ruling only applied to the state of Coahuila, which borders Texas . Other Mexican states have already removed criminal penalties related to the proceedings, with Aguascalientes becoming the 12th to do so last week.

Wednesday's decision has no effect on local abortion laws and remains. illegal in 20 of the country's 32 states. But even in those states, women can now legally have abortions at federal hospitals and clinics. The decision also prohibits employees of these facilities from being penalized for performing abortions.

“Hopefully this is the preamble so the court can go state by state to help local legislatures. eliminate the crime of abortion because lawmakers are not doing their job,” said Verónica Cruz, founder of the feminist group Las Libres in Guanajuato, Mexico.

En In addition to Mexico, countries like Colombia, Argentina, Uruguay and Guyana have decided to legalize or decriminalize abortion. The regional trend contrasts with that of the United States, where the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court in 2022 placed the country among a small group of countries, making it more difficult for women to terminate their pregnancies.

In a statement, the Supreme Court of Mexico declared that "the criminalization of abortion constitutes an act of gender-based violence and discrimination, because it perpetuates the stereotype according to which women and people with the capacity to become pregnant cannot freely exercise their pregnancy". their sexuality to procreate and reinforces the gender role that imposes motherhood as an obligatory destiny.

Some anti-abortion activists in Mexico were quick to react to the decision. “It sends the message to society that the life of a son or daughter can be taken before they are born,” Marcial Padilla, director of ConParticipación, an anti-abortion group, said in comments to ACI Prensa, a Catholic news agency.< /p>

The court's decision reflects profound changes in Mexican society and some of its institutions. Much of the country remains culturally conservative, but decades of feminist activism have reshaped the number of people...