Mexican Supreme Court Decriminalizes Abortion — What Does it Mean for Women?
Protesters in Hermosillo supporting the right to an abortion during a march on September, 20th, 2020. Source: Fronteras Desk
Mexico’s Supreme Court unanimously voted on September 7th that criminalizing abortion is unconstitutional, paving the path for legal abortions in the staunchly Catholic and conservative country.
The ruling, which took place in the northern state of Coahuila, held that women who receive an abortion can no longer be prosecuted for doing so. Previously, women who were found guilty of having an abortion in Coahuila could receive jail sentences for upwards of three years. In Mexico City and three Mexican states, abortions could be performed up to 12 weeks into the pregnancy, although all 32 federal entities have differing legislation which will now have to adhere to the Supreme Court’s decision.
The ruling comes eight months after Argentina’s Senate voted to legalize elective abortion or abortions conducted because of non-medical reasons. The bill in question in Argentina — The Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Bill (Spanish: Ley de Interrupción Voluntaria del Embarazo; IVE) – permits abortions up to the 14th week of pregnancy. After the bill’s passage, Argentina’s President, Alberto Fernández wrote: "Today we are a better society that expands rights to women and guarantees public health."
Argentina was the fourth country in Latin America and the first heavily Catholic country to decriminalize abortion. The ripples from passing IVE caused a direct change in Mexico’s policy on abortion, although it cannot be the sole contributor.
The increase in support of decriminalizing abortion is also attributed to the upward trend of crimes against women due to extended stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Femicide, or intentional crimes against women, is directly linked to pregnant women who don’t have access to abortions and have to face violence from the male involved in the pregnancy. Being in close quarters with their abuser, combined with increased vulnerability from being isolated, can ultimately lead to the woman’s and fetus’s death. These women lack support systems — family, friends, neighbors — who can provide an escape from a violent living situation. Decriminalizing abortion is the first step to increasing and expanding freedoms for women on an international scale as well as protecting them against domestic violence.
Yet Mexican citizens remain divided on the ethics surrounding abortion. In a poll from “El Financiero,” 47% of Mexicans agreed women should have the right to an abortion, while 53% of Mexicans disagreed. There is also a divide in opinion based on age and socioeconomic status, with younger adults and those in the highest income group supporting the woman’s right to an abortion while adults who are over the age of 50 and in the lowest income group opposed the woman’s right to an abortion.
Many prominent Conservative activists and political figures asked the Supreme Court to think of unborn babies and to honor the Bible when considering the rights of the fetus. The Catholic Church, in its magazine Desde la Fe, issued a statement to the judges while they were on their second day of arguments, imploring, “Don’t create a huge setback just to please an ideology in vogue, or due to peer pressure.”
The Mexican government under the current President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is now focused on improving the living conditions of Mexico’s poor. In the past, Mexico’s criminalization of abortions has primarily targeted women in poverty. Those in poverty are unable to afford the lawyers that can keep them out of jail for having an abortion. Financially well-off women who seek abortions can travel to Mexican federal entities where abortion is decriminalized, while women who have fewer funds don’t have access to similar resources. Instead, poor pregnant women in Mexico attempt to perform abortions at home with coat hangers, oftentimes hitting their stomachs and having to rush to the hospital. Once there, doctors are required to notify police officers that the women have something illegal and the women are threatened with arrest and criminal charges.
"Rich girls, and I've said this, and it upsets many that I say it, have always had abortions and never gone to prison. This is a crime which to a great extent punishes poverty," Supreme Court President Arturo Zaldivar told reporters at a news conference in Mexico City following the decriminalization of abortion.
While the passing of this legislation improves the living conditions for millions of women in Mexico, there are still women in other countries whose choice to end a pregnancy isn’t honored. Their fight is far from over, but the decision in the Mexican Supreme Court will provide hope for these women that they are in control over their body.