On April 24, 2007, in a watershed moment in deeply Catholic, conservative Mexico, the Legislative Assembly of Mexico City legalized abortion for women in their first twelve weeks of pregnancy. The reform also reduced the punishment of women who have abortions after the first trimester from 1 to 3 years in prison to 3 to 6 months of community service. While Mexico City has taken an important step towards guaranteeing the rights of women to terminate unwanted pregnancies, the rest of the country has far to go. Beyond the capital city, abortion remains illegal, except in cases of rape or if the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother. In the state of Yucatán, the law also allows for socio-economic factors; abortion is legal if the mother already has three children. Given that an estimated 500,000 women per year have illegal abortions in Mexico, and that unsafe abortions remain a serious cause of maternal mortality nationwide—as well as the fact that poor women are disproportionately burdened with the consequences of lack of access to safe, legal abortions (rich women can afford to pay private doctors or travel abroad)—the struggle for the decriminalization of abortion is central in the broader movement for women’s rights nationally. This article looks at the factors that created the political environment that made de-criminalization of abortion in Mexico City legal in order to create a framework for thinking about how similar reforms could be passed in other states. The International Context There have been international campaigns for the de-criminalization of abortion in Europe and the U.S. since the 1960s, and particularly in more recent years – with the help of increased communication technology – international women’s rights groups, family planning organizations and other pro-choice actors have influenced and provided allies for similar organizing in Latin America. At the same time, the U.S. government has negatively impacted the efforts of organizations and health care institutions towards achieving comprehensive women’s rights. Since 1984 when Ronald Reagan signed the Mexico City Policy, which effectively denied U.S. federal funding to any organization providing abortion-related services. Clinton rescinded the policy in 1993, but it was reinstated again by George W. Bush. The Vatican, a powerful moral voice in Mexico, has also been one of the most vocal opponents of the decriminalization of abortion. During the 2006 and 2007 debates in the Legislative Assembly of Mexico City, the Vatican threatened to ex-communicate city council members who voted in favor of the reforms and called abortion a forma of “terrorism.” Domestic Context The strongest opponent of the legalization of abortion within Mexico was the Catholic Church hierarchy. Priests and bishops organized widely against the reforms as they were being debated in the Legislative Assembly. The Bishop of San Cristóbal de las Casas warned that to legalize abortion in Mexico City would be “a crime comparable to those of Hitler.” The PAN, president Calderón’s political party and the party that has most sought to present a self-image of morality in line with the teachings of the Catholic Church, has also fervently organized against the decriminalization of abortion. The PRD, Mexico City’s mayor’s party and the party that holds the most seats in the Legislative Assembly of Mexico City, has made efforts to publicly separate itself from the Catholic hierarchy.

Average: Select ratingPoorOkayGoodGreatAwesome

No votes yet