Abortion will be legal in Mexico
Abortion will be legal at the federal level following the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN).
This Wednesday, September 6, 2023, is a historic day in the fight for reproductive rights, particularly women’s rights. This is because the country’s highest court declared the prohibition of abortion throughout Mexico, a country with 130 million predominantly Catholic inhabitants, unconstitutional.
The judges who made this decision stated that the legal system that penalizes abortion, as established in the Federal Penal Code, is incompatible with the Constitution. Legal representatives pointed out that the criminalization of abortion violates the rights of women and pregnant individuals. Therefore, from now on, voluntary abortion will not be sanctioned as long as it is carried out in health facilities managed by the Federal Government. Pay attention to this.
It is important to remember that until this moment, only 12 states had adapted their local laws to allow abortion under certain circumstances, generally up to the first 12 weeks of gestation. However, this new Supreme Court ruling guarantees the right not to be penalized in all 32 states of the country. With this decision, Mexico joins other nations like Colombia, Argentina, Uruguay, and Guyana that have made significant progress in terms of reproductive rights. This sets a legal precedent that must be followed by local courts and judges.
How Mexico got here?
The controversy that led to this decision stemmed from a lawsuit filed by the Group for Information on Reproductive Choice (GIRE) against the Congress. In the lawsuit, the terms of the Federal Penal Code regarding abortion were questioned.
Despite the fact that a large part of Mexico remains culturally conservative, decades of feminist activism have influenced the perception of women’s rights. In a strict sense, all of this reflects profound changes in Mexican society and some of its institutions.
