The Supreme Court of Mexico ruled unconstitutional the criminalization ofabortion, in a unanimous vote Tuesday that will allow Mexicans across the country to access this practice.
This decision has been described as“Historical” by human rights defenders in this conservative and very Catholic Latin American country.
“For equality, dignity”
“It is one more step in the historic struggle for equality (of women), dignity and the full exercise of their rights”, declared the President of the Court, Arturo Zaldivar.
“From now on it will not be possible, without violating the criteria of the tribunal and the Constitution, to prosecute a woman who aborts in the cases validated by this tribunal”, detailed Arturo Zaldívar.
Historic day for all women, especially for the most vulnerable. The unjust criminalization of women ends with the cut. Never again a woman in prison for exercising her rights.
A hug to all those who with their struggle of years have made this possible. pic.twitter.com/DJEli3NZHo– Arturo Zaldívar (@ArturoZaldivarL) September 7, 2021
The court met in plenary session for two days to consider the constitutionality of articles of the Penal Code of the state of Coahuila, in northern Mexico, which punish women who have abortions, with penalties of up to to three years in prison.
These articles were unanimously declared unconstitutional by the ten judges present, which establishes a case law for the courts in the country.
A judicial source explained that this judgment has indeed a national scope because it will allow women who live in states where abortion is criminalized to have access to abortion by decision of a judge.
“The woman must ask (the health services) to perform the abortion, and if they refuse to do so, she can appear before a judge and lodge an appeal. The judge will now have the power to order that the abortion be performed “, explained to AFP Alex Alí Méndez, constitutional lawyer and expert in abortion issues.
It is unconstitutional to criminalize abortion absolutely. For the first time, the Court ruled in favor of guaranteeing the right of women and pregnant people to decide, without facing criminal consequences. pic.twitter.com/VkGM1P6T9L
– Supreme Court (@SCJN) September 7, 2021
A third consequence of the Supreme Court ruling, the lawyer added, is that it will be a tool for women imprisoned for having abortions to regain their freedom.
Historical judgment
The Reproductive Choice Information Group (GIRE), which advocates for the right to abortion, hailed what it called a “Historical judgment”.
“We hope that across the country, women and those with the capacity to bear a child will have the conditions and the freedom to determine their reproductive destiny.”, did he declare.
Unsafe abortion is the fourth leading cause of maternal death in Mexico, according to the group.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador dodged questions on the matter, ahead of the decision’s announcement, during his daily morning press conference on Tuesday.
He said it would not be wise to ” to take part ” because it is a “Controversial issue” and that the best thing to do was for the Supreme Court to resolve it.
Mexico is a federated country where the states are autonomous in the adoption of their laws, but these can be invalidated by means of an appeal when they contravene decisions of the Supreme Court which make jurisprudence, such as this one. Tuesday.
Mexico City decriminalized abortion up to 12 weeks gestation in 2007, and it is performed free of charge in city hall clinics, whether or not women live in other neighborhoods.
Oaxaca, Veracruz, and Hidalgo are other states that have decriminalized abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Latin America reluctant to abortion
The Catholic religion, which generally prohibits abortion, is in the majority in Mexico with 77.7% of believers, according to the last official census of 2020.
Abortion is legal in Uruguay, Cuba, Argentina. It is totally banned in El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic and Haiti.
In other Latin American countries, abortion is only allowed in cases where the woman’s life is in danger, or in some cases if there has been rape or the fetus is not viable. .
The decision of the highest Mexican court of justice comes six days after that of the Supreme Court of the United States, profoundly overhauled by Donald Trump, to refuse the blocking of a law of Texas, a state bordering on Mexico, prohibiting the majority termination of pregnancy, even in cases of incest or rape.
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