The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Mexico's abortion ruling could make waves beyond its borders

2021-09-14T11:07:21.924Z


A women's rights leader consulted by CNN says the unanimous ruling, which found that criminalizing abortion was unconstitutional, could make Mexico a destination for US women and even a model for other countries in the Americas. Latin


Mexico reacts with division to decision on abortion 3:43

Mexico City (CNN) -

The ground literally shook the day the Supreme Court of Mexico ruled on the criminalization of abortion: on September 7, a magnitude 7 earthquake struck the Mexican Pacific coast, shaking several states. and caused the death of a person.

It lasted about a minute.

But the shock waves sent across the region by the abortion court ruling will be felt for years to come.

Members of feminist groups celebrate in Saltillo, the capital of the state of Coahuila, after the ruling of the Supreme Court of Mexico on abortion on September 7.

A women's rights leader consulted by CNN says the unanimous ruling, which found criminalizing abortion unconstitutional, could make Mexico a destination for U.S. women - where abortion was recently strictly limited in Texas - and even a model for other countries in Latin America, a region that historically has not been friendly to women seeking abortions.

What the failure means

Mexico's highest court had been asked to consider a law enacted in the northern state of Coahuila, which said that women who undergo an abortion can be punished with up to three years in prison and a fine.

In a unanimous vote, the court declared the local law unconstitutional, a ruling that does not automatically legalize abortion in the country, according to analysts consulted by CNN.

Pending cases have yet to be heard locally and laws restricting abortion in the nation's states are still on the books.

However, it sets a powerful precedent for the rest of Mexico, which the Supreme Court justices recognized when making the decision.

Ana Margarita Ríos Farjat, one of only three women on the bench, also spoke out strongly against the Coahuila law before casting her vote.

advertising

"I am against stigmatizing those who make this decision [to have an abortion], which I think is difficult to begin with, due to the moral and social burdens. It shouldn't be a burden also by law. No one gets pregnant voluntarily thinking of aborting later, "she said.

"Never again will a woman or a person with the capacity to have a child be criminally prosecuted," Judge Luis María Aguilar later concluded, praising the ruling as "a historic step."

The ruling received high praise from women's and reproductive rights groups, but was criticized by conservatives and the Mexican Catholic Church.

While the court appears to have moved decidedly to the left, the country remains polarized.

Mexican public opinion is still deeply divided on the issue of abortion.

A survey by the national newspaper El Financiero, conducted before the decision, showed that 53 percent of Mexicans opposed the law that allows women the right to abort, while 45 percent agree that the Mexican law should allow the procedure.

This reality was reflected in interviews conducted by CNN the morning after the ruling was issued on the streets of Mexico City.

Opinions divided after court rulings on abortion 2:49

"A woman should not be deprived of her right to decide for herself, much less be imprisoned for something she decides about her own body," said a woman who was walking along the central Reforma Avenue, who did not want to be identified.

"I agree that women should do what they want with their body, but not on this issue. We are talking about a human being. Things should not be done that far [having an abortion]," said another who also denied to be named.

A long awaited day

On the day of the ruling, those for and against abortion had peacefully protested in front of the Supreme Court building. Some knelt and prayed, or held fetus figurines aloft, while others waved banners demanding safe and legal abortions, describing their cause as a "fight against a patriarchal society."

The ruling is a blow to much of Mexico's vast and entrenched Catholic community. Before his hearing, Bishop Jesús José Herrera Quiñones of the Diocese of Nuevo Casas Grandes, issued a statement on behalf of the Mexican Episcopal Conference: "We want to remind everyone that a human being, conceived by a father and a mother, whose life It begins at the moment of conception, it must be recognized in its dignity at all stages of life and it deserves the same protection of the law against actions that could endanger this person ”, Herrera Quiñones wrote.

The day after the ruling, Eduardo Verástegui, a Mexican actor turned conservative activist, criticized the court's decision in an emotional tweet posted on his official account.

"Mexico cries today. Mexico trembles today. It rains uncontrollably in various parts of the country and the earth creaks. Today thousands of Mexican babies have been condemned to die. Mexico cries today; Mexico trembles for its daughters and sons who will never be born," wrote Verástegui .

But history has been made.

María Antonieta Alcalde, director of Ipas / Centroamérica y México, a women's rights group that also advocates for reproductive rights, says the court's ruling is the result of years of lobbying and advocating for organizations like hers with the purpose of making abortion safe and legal in Mexico.

Anti-abortion groups protest the ruling of the Mexican Supreme Court in Monterrey, the capital of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, on September 12.

"Although the decision was expected, the positions of the different judges, how clear their message was and having a unanimous decision was something we did not expect," said Alcalde.

He stressed that although the court's ruling applies specifically to the state of Coahuila, it sends a message to all states.

Under Mexico's federal system, states can enact their own laws, but a Supreme Court ruling supersedes any local statute.

Mayor also said the ruling may also have repercussions across the Mexican border, specifically when it comes to Texas, where the controversial law banning abortions after six weeks went into effect on Sept. 1.

"Texas is moving in the other direction. What could happen is that more Texan women decide to travel to Mexico. It is the opposite of what used to happen. Many Mexican women used to travel to the United States to have a safe and legal abortion. What we will see in the future, especially if the new law is maintained, is that some women from Texas can travel to Mexico to have a safe and legal abortion, ”said Alcalde.

Catholic Church, against abortion law in Mexico 0:35

Before the ruling, abortion was only legal in all states of Mexico only when the pregnancy was the result of rape.

When issuing her opinion, Judge Ana Margarita Ríos said that - legal or not - between 750,000 and one million abortions are performed in Mexico a year.

The ruling could mark a turning point for the greater Latin American region, which the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington group of experts dedicated to analyzing international affairs in the Western Hemisphere, describes as "one of the most restrictive regions in the world in terms of regarding reproductive health laws and policies, particularly abortion. "

Abortion is totally prohibited in Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Suriname, according to an analysis carried out in February by the organization.

The same analysis points out that abortion is allowed in several countries only under strict conditions, generally when the pregnancy is the result of rape, involves a fatal fetal anomaly, or poses a risk to the health of the mother's life, and is permitted "on demand" in Uruguay, Cuba, Guyana, French Guiana and Argentina.

Abortion

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2021-09-14

You may like

News/Politics 2024-02-21T00:21:00.477Z

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.