In 2005 there were almost a million abortions carried out nationwide, according
to Mexico's National Autonomous University. At the nation's capital the figure
is around 60,000. It constitutes the third major cause of death in poor women
mostly because it is practiced in unhealthy, clandestine and unprofessional
medical conditions.
Voluntary abortion is punished by imprisonment, law enforcement is rare but a
handful of prosecution cases are selective against poor, marginalized women.
Equality in health services has been a pendant signature over the years. An
investigation made by the Information Group on Reproductive Choice (GIRE), a
Mexican NGO on reproductive rights, revealed that in the past six years there
were almost 524 women charged for practicing illegal abortions, 28 had been
processed and 14 convicted in nine states. Conservative states like Baja
California (185), Nuevo Leon (93) and Guanajuato (92), were the majority of
those that pressed charges. While 28 processed women came from Baja California
and Guerrero, and the 14 convicted ones were exclusively from Sonora. The
average prison term ranged from six months to three years.
The new law diminishes sanctions to the mother incurred in abortion after the
12th week and practitioners will be jailed when employing menaces or lies to
convince them to disrupt pregnancy. Now women can argue the need to have a
procedure when experiencing economic problems, when they get pregnant by human
trafficking, prostitution or when the pregnancy alters her life project.
Doctors will have the obligation to inform women about alternatives such as
adoption, other welfare and psychological programs available and cannot refuse
to practice abortion when ordered to. Only a gynecologist or surgeon doctor
ascribed to Mexico City's Health Ministry will be authorized to perform the
procedures, soliciting women's expressed written consent.
Doctors are required to inform a Clinical Evaluation Commission about pregnancy
interruption to keep medical records and oversight cases. The local government
is ordered to implement an aggressive science-based sex education program to
reduce unwanted pregnancies and the spreading of sexually transmitted diseases.
Months of a much deserved discussion between progressives and conservatives
resulted in a polarized society already agitated by last year's questionable
presidential election.
A culture war broke out between left and right when gay civil unions were
legalized by the same congressmen, resulting in a fierce confrontation with the
Catholic Church. During the abortion debate religious groups, President Felipe
Calderon, his wife (7), ruling National Action Party (PAN), and even Pope
Benedict XVI came together to "defend life." They ineffectively spent several
million dollars in TV ads, WebPages, billboards and weak street protests.
The pro-life media campaign was aggressive. It radicalized anti abortion
activists up to a point that several lawmakers received anonymous death
threats. Catholic hierarchs menace to excommunicate politicians voting in
favor. And PAN members went to the extent of writing a bill to punish
termination of pregnancy with 50 years of prison.
Regardless of a series of peaceful but energized protests, pro-choice activists
prevailed. Feminist, reproductive NGOs and leftist parties had fewer resources
but they were better organized, carrying a clear and balanced discourse to
persuade public opinion. They rejected advocating for a wider abortion term,
refused to use abortion as a contraceptive method and redefined pregnancy
beginning after implantation, contrary to conservative's views.
A 2006 poll made by Ipsos-Bimsa for the Population Council exposed (9) that
more than half of Mexicans agreed on allowing abortions depending on the
circumstances and just a minority considered taking into account the church's
opinion on the matter. Just 29 percent defended abortions due to the woman's
decision alone and 54 percent favored criminal punishment. Confrontations will
surely escalate in the coming months when discussions begin to legalize
euthanasia and drug possession, both at the federal and state levels.
Latin America has some of the world's most restrictive abortion laws. The only
countries allowing it are Puerto Rico, Cuba, French Guiana and Barbados and
Mexico. It's totally banned in El Salvador, Honduras, Saint Martin, the
Dominican Republic, in "leftist" Nicaragua and Chile (where it's the No. 1
cause of women's death).
Only Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay and 10 out of 32 Mexican
states approve therapeutic abortion. Nearly all states allow legal termination
in cases of rape, unauthorized artificial insemination, if the mother's health
is at risk, or when the inborn is detected to have genetic malformations.
