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Open For
Business:
Mexico
decriminalizes
abortion,
a
dramatic
counter
to new
Texas
ban
By
Mary
Beth
Sheridan,
Alejandra
Ibarra
Chaoul
washingtonpost.com
MEXICO
CITY -
Mexico’s
supreme
court
voted
unanimously
on
Tuesday
to
decriminalize
abortion,
a
striking
step in
a
country
with one
of the
world’s
largest
Catholic
populations
and a
move
that
contrasts
sharply
with
tighter
restrictions
introduced
across
the
border
in
Texas.
Eight of
the 11
supreme
court
judges
had
expressed
support
for
decriminalization
in
arguments
that
began
Monday,
making
the
decision
virtually
inevitable.
The
vote
comes as
a
powerful
women’s
movement
is
transforming
Mexico,
where
female
politicians
now make
up half
of
Congress.
While
abortion
remains
illegal
in most
of Latin
America,
there
has been
a surge
in
demonstrations
demanding
more
rights
for
women,
particularly
focused
on
rising
violence.
“This
will not
only
have an
impact
in
Mexico;
it will
set the
agenda
for the
entire
Latin
American
region,”
said
Melissa
Ayala,
coordinator
of
litigation
for the
Mexican
feminist
organization
GIRE.
She
called
the
ruling
“a
historic
moment
for
feminists
and
activists”
who have
pressed
for
women’s
rights
for
years in
Mexico’s
state
legislatures,
health
ministries
and law
schools.
Four
countries
in Latin
America
allow
abortion
under
virtually
all
circumstances
early in
pregnancy:
Argentina,
Cuba,
Uruguay
and
Guyana.
Some
nations
forbid
abortion
for any
reason.
In El
Salvador,
women
accused
of
aborting
a fetus
can be
prosecuted
on
assault
or
homicide
charges,
and face
decades
in
prison.
Four
of
Mexico’s
32
federal
entities
have
broadly
legalized
the
procedure
—
Oaxaca,
Veracruz,
Hidalgo
and
Mexico
City.
One
of
Mexico’s
biggest
opposition
parties,
the
conservative
National
Action
Party,
declared
its
opposition
to the
arguments
advanced
in the
supreme
court.
“We are
in favor
of
defending
life
from the
moment
of
conception
until
natural
death,”
it said
in a
statement.
It
called
for more
measures
to avert
abortion,
such as
improving
adoption
services
and
providing
more
assistance
to
pregnant
women.
Yet
the
decision
was out
of the
hands of
politicians.
The
court
was
asked to
rule on
a law in
the
northern
state of
Coahuila
that
establishes
jail
terms of
up to
three
years
for
women
who
procure
illegal
abortions.
Abortion
wouldn’t
instantly
become
widely
available,
but the
ruling
will
“outline
a route,
a
criteria”
that
states
will use
to
change
their
laws,
said
Diego
Valadés,
a former
supreme
court
judge.
The
decision
will
automatically
free
women
who have
been
jailed
for
getting
abortions,
he said.
“It
will
have
very
broad
effects,”
he said.
Mexico
has the
world’s
second-largest
population
of
Catholics,
after
Brazil.
Around
three-quarters
of
Mexicans
identify
themselves
as
members
of the
faith,
according
to
census
data.
But the
government
is
officially
secular
and the
church
has been
losing
influence,
due in
part to
clerical
sex-abuse
scandals.
In
addition,
women’s
groups
and
social
media
have
driven
home the
severity
of the
problem
of
unwanted
pregnancies,
especially
among
teenagers.
More
than 1
million
abortions
are
performed
each
year in
Mexico,
most
clandestinely
and in
unsafe
conditions,
according
to
estimates
by the
U.S.-based
Guttmacher
Institute.
“The
effects
on
women’s
health,
including
the
number
of
deaths
registered
due to
clandestine
abortions,
and the
number
of child
pregnancies,
represent
a
profound
social
problem,”
said
Valadés.
“So the
attitude
of most
of
society
toward
abortion
has
changed,
despite
the
resistance
of
ecclesiastical
authorities.”
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