In a historic decision, Mexico decriminalizes abortion

Mexico's Supreme Court has made a landmark decision by decriminalizing abortion rights nationwide. This significant ruling is poised to expand access to abortion services across Mexico, marking a major triumph for advocates of abortion rights in a country predominantly influenced by Roman Catholicism.

The Supreme Court, comprising 11 justices, had initially declared the unconstitutionality of criminal penalties for abortion in 2021. However, that decision only applied to the northern state of Coahuila, where the case had originated. In a recent ruling on Wednesday, the Court reaffirmed its stance, extending the impact of this decision to the entirety of Mexico.

This development is part of a broader trend of progress in reproductive rights across Latin America in recent years. Meanwhile, in the United States, the Supreme Court had reversed the national right to abortion in 2022, resulting in significant restrictions on abortion access in nearly half of the 50 states.

Isabel Fulda, deputy director of the Information Group on Reproductive Choice (GIRE), the advocacy organization responsible for bringing the case, emphasized the importance of the previous Coahuila ruling, which paved the way for this broader decision. She noted that the current ruling has far-reaching implications, particularly in terms of enhancing abortion access.

The Court sided with GIRE in challenging the federal penal code, ruling that the section of the national law criminalizing abortion is no longer enforceable. In a statement shared on X (formerly known as Twitter), the Court asserted that this section of the federal penal code violated the rights of individuals who can become pregnant.

Furthermore, this ruling paves the way for the federal healthcare system to offer abortion services, a development of critical importance as Mexico considers centralizing healthcare services, according to abortion rights advocates.

As of now, Mexico's 32 states have been slow to revise their penal codes to align with the court's 2021 decriminalization ruling. Last month, Aguascalientes became the 12th Mexican state to decriminalize abortion when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of GIRE in a similar challenge to the state's penal code.

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