Mexico’s Supreme Court of Justice on Wednesday removed the crime of abortion from the Federal Penal Code, ruling that national laws prohibiting the procedure are unconstitutional and violate women’s rights.
A reproductive rights group stressed that this decision will require the federal public health service and all federal health institutions to allow abortion to anyone who requests it.
“No woman or pregnant woman, nor any health professional may be penalized for performing an abortion,” the group said in a statement.
The Supreme Court’s decision had immediate repercussions on social media, the Associated Press (AP) agency reported.
“Today is a day of victory and justice for Mexican women,” highlighted the National Institute for Women of Mexico through the social network X (formerly Twitter).
The government organization stressed that this is a “big step” towards gender equality.
The high court highlighted in the X that “the legal system that penalizes abortion” in Mexican federal law is unconstitutional because “it violates the human rights of women and people in a position to become pregnant.”
The decision came two years after the court ruled that abortion was not a crime in a northern state.
That decision set off a slow statewide decriminalization process.
Last week, Aguascalientes (center) became the 12th state to eliminate criminal sanctions, and judges in states that still criminalize abortion will have to heed the higher court’s decision.
Abortion rights activists will have to continue pursuing legalization state by state, although Wednesday’s decision should make it easier.
State authorities can also act on their own to remove penalties for abortion.
In recent years, across Latin America, countries have taken steps to lift abortion restrictions, a trend often referred to as the “green wave” in reference to the green scarves worn by women protesting abortion rights at the region.
The changes in Latin America stand in stark contrast to the increasing restrictions on abortion in some parts of the United States.
Mexico City was the first Mexican jurisdiction to decriminalize abortion 15 years ago.
After decades of work by activists across the region, the trend gained momentum in Argentina, which in 2020 legalized the procedure. In 2022, Colombia, a very conservative country, did the same.
Source: TSF
