ABORTION IN MEXICO: HISTORY, SITUATION AND LAWS BY STATE (LAWS), STATISTICS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2024

The abortion in Mexico is considered a social and public health problem of great importance. It is only considered legal throughout the country when the pregnancy is the result of rape. Each of the 32 states is responsible for establishing, according to its own penal codes, the ways to carry out an induced abortion without sanctions.

Abortion, according to the Mexican Legal Encyclopedia, refers to the interruption of pregnancy before the fetus can live and currently more than 60 countries have decriminalized its practice. Russia was the first country in the world to publish a decree on the subject and Cuba was the first to put no restrictions on Latin America.

Day for the Decriminalization and Legalization of Abortion. By MariResendiz

Mexico City is the only place in Mexico where legal access and security are offered to voluntarily terminate a pregnancy. For this, it must be requested by the woman during the first twelve weeks of gestation.

History of abortion

The artificial termination of pregnancy has varied over the years in Mexican legislation. In 1871 it was established in the federal penal code and it was only punished if it was consummated. Currently the 1931 code is the one that governs in Mexico, and from that moment the abortion of a pregnancy resulting from rape was established as not punishable.

The first proposals to completely decriminalize abortion in Mexico were in the 1930s, by feminist groups. Only in 1972 did the issue gain relevance again, with the dissemination of an initiative to change legislation that revolved around better sex education for the entire population, access to contraceptives and the practice of abortion as a last resort.

The church played an important role against the abortion laws. In the 1980s they opposed the so-called Voluntary Maternity Bill.

The church also succeeded in defusing the attempt by President Miguel de la Madrid and Sergio García, Attorney General, to reform the abortion law in Mexico City, and in 1990 religious representatives called demonstrations to protest the modifications proposed by the Congress of Chiapas.

First steps towards decriminalization

In 1992, the Group of Information on Chosen Reproduction (GIRE) was born with the purpose of turning abortion into a matter of public interest, health and justice.

In 2000, one of the most important events occurred to deepen the debate on the decriminalization of abortion. The case of Paulina was known, a 13-year-old girl who was raped in Baja California and who, when it was confirmed that she was pregnant, requested a legal abortion. Paulina, along with her family, suffered all kinds of impediments and humiliations until they gave up carrying out the termination of the pregnancy.

Finally, in 2007, the most relevant ruling for voluntary abortion in Mexico was achieved. The decriminalization was approved, until the 12th week of pregnancy, in the Legislative Assembly of the Federal District. The Penal Code of Mexico City and the local Health Law were reformed, including the right to legally interrupt a pregnancy (ILE).

Since 2006, more than 20 initiatives in relation to legal abortion were discarded in the Congress of the Union. Since the beginning of 2019, a project to reform the Federal Penal Code and the General Health Law has been discussed, where abortion is established as a basic right.

Situation by State (Laws)

In Mexico, each state has legislation regarding abortion, but in the 32 abortion is allowed when the pregnancy is the product of rape. Only in Mexico City is it legal for any woman (resident or not) to interrupt pregnancy up to 12 weeks of gestation. It is not necessary to specify causes and they have 13 specialist clinics, opting for the interruption free of charge, regardless of age.

After the decriminalization of abortion in Mexico City in 2007, 17 of the 32 states reformed their constitutions to include guarantees of the right to life. Federal District also allows abortion in case of rape, if the woman is in danger and when the fetus has genetic or congenital malformations.

When is abortion not a crime?

The laws of Aguascalientes, Baja California, Campeche, Chihuahua, Durango, Jalisco, Nayarit, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Puebla, Oaxaca and Zacatecas establish that it is a crime to have fewer abortions in three cases.

That the abortion was due to reckless or accidental conduct by the woman, that the pregnancy was the result of rape or insemination without consent, and when the woman is in danger of death or her health.

In some cases, two doctors must certify that the assumption of danger of death is fulfilled, the violations must be reported and the abortion carried out up to 12 weeks of gestation.

Abortion is allowed when it is imprudential and when there is a violation in Guanajuato and Querétaro. In Chiapas, the interruption of pregnancy is legal if it is the product of rape, there is a risk of death for the woman or genetic / congenital alterations of the fetus that put its survival at risk.

The law of Tlaxcala, Coahuila, Veracruz, Baja California Sur, Morelos, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Quintana Roo, State of Mexico, and Colima added reckless or wrongful abortion.

Michoacán and Yucatán establish in their criminal codes the legality of abortion for economic reasons, when the woman already has three or more children. Nor is it a crime if it is a reckless abortion, rape, there are possibilities of death or the fetus has serious malformations.

While in Tabasco and Nuevo León aborting is considered a crime, except when pregnancy occurs due to rape and when there is danger of death or damage to your health.

Statistics

The laws that exist in Mexico, in their majority prohibitive, mean that a large part of the abortions carried out are clandestine and that there is little official data on the interruption of pregnancy.

From 2007 to 2018, according to the Ministry of Health in Mexico City, 199,230 abortions have been performed. It is estimated that nationwide the number of clandestine abortions reached one million.

In almost half of the cases in the Federal District, the ages of women range between 18 and 24 years. In 28% the abortion was performed during the first four weeks of pregnancy.

While the Ministry of Health also indicated that the majority of abortions are performed on single women, followed by 30% who declare that they are in a free union.

According to GIRE data, in 2018 138 people were serving sentences in prison for abortion, the product of more than four thousand complaints in 10 years. Only in 2018 there were 570 investigations for the crime of abortion. Mexico City added 109 complaints, followed by the State of Mexico, with 79.

References

1. Bailey, J. (2012). Abortion (p. 15). New York: Rosen Central.
2. Unintended pregnancy and induced abortion in Mexico. (2013). Recovered from guttmacher.org
3. Fetal Death Statistics. Recovered from data.gob.mx
4. Gutiérrez, G., Fernández, S., & Viguri, R. (2019). Recovered from espolea.org
5. The decriminalization of abortion in Mexico. (2009). Nueva Sociedad, (220), 154 to 172. Recovered from nuso.org
6. Timeline: Abortion and the SCJN. Recovered from gire.org
7. Maternity or punishment The criminalization of abortion in Mexico. (2018). Recovered from criminalizacionporaborto.gire.org.mx
8. Wind, R. (2018). New Study Examines Characteristics of Women Seeking Abortion in Mexico City. Recovered from guttmacher.org