Mexican Court’s Abortion Decision Expands Access to Millions, Stands in Contrast to US Fabiola Sánchez and Megan Janetsky - Associated Press
go to original September 8, 2023

Mexico's supreme court has decriminalized abortion in a big win for women's rights in Latin America. The move comes as the country readies to appoint its first-ever female president next year. Palki Sharma shares how Mexico just beat America. (Firstpost)

The decision by Mexico's Supreme Court to invalidate all federal criminal penalties for abortion opened access for millions of people in the sprawling public health system a year after the court's U.S. counterpart went in the opposite direction.

Wednesday’s ruling did not have the same immediate impact as Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling guaranteeing women’s access to abortion. But it was a dramatic change in this predominantly Catholic nation that could lend momentum to efforts to legalize abortion across the country.

Under Mexico's legal system, the ruling did not invalidate all criminal penalties for abortion, which remained on the books Thursday in 20 of Mexico’s 32 states.

But the ruling does mean that government health providers now need not worry about federal penalties for abortion, because the court ruled that they were an unconstitutional violation of women's human rights.

Millions of Mexican women receive health-care services from the national government, granting the ruling immediate impact. The ruling also gave abortion rights advocates a powerful tool that they can use to continue their state-by-state work of challenging abortion restrictions.

However, along with those restrictions still on the books in many states, many millions of Mexican women work outside the formal economy, placing them outside those quickly affected by Wednesday's ruling.

Abortions are not widely prosecuted as a crime in Mexico, but many doctors refuse to provide them, citing the law.

Celebration of the ruling spilled out onto social media.

Read the rest at Associated Press

Related: Abortion Access Has Expanded but Remains Difficult in Mexico. How Does It Work Now? (The Independent)

Related: Mexican Pro-life Groups Question Validity of High Court’s Abortion Decision (OSV News)

Related: Latin America Women’s Rights Groups Say Their Abortion Win in Mexico May Hold the Key to US Struggle (Associated Press)

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