Mexico moves toward legal abortion, but women still face jail

Mexico moves toward legal abortion, but women still face jail

30 Nov 2019

GUANAJUATO, Mexico: Martha Mendez and Susana Duenas were both teenagers when they committed their "crime": suffering a miscarriage.

Accused of having an abortion - which is illegal in all but two states in Mexico - Mendez was forced to ask her fetus for forgiveness. Duenas was jailed for seven years.

Continued; https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/mexico-moves-toward-legal-abortion--but-women-still-face-jail-12140018


MEXICO – The Oaxaca Congress makes history: legalising abortion in the first trimester

MEXICO – The Oaxaca Congress makes history: legalising abortion in the first trimester

Oct 4, 2019
by International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion

On 25 September 2019 Oaxaca became the second state government in Mexico to decriminalise abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. The Federal District of Mexico was the first, in 2007. Previously, abortion was legal in Oaxaca only in cases of rape, fetal malformation, risk of death for the woman or if artificial insemination was not by consent.

The vote was 24 in favour and 10 against. The outcome of the vote was apparently uncertain until the last minute, because even though the legislature has a majority of leftist Morena party members, not all of them supported the bill. But working closely with allies in Oaxaca over the past year, the bill’s supporters never gave up.

Continued: https://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/mexico-the-oaxaca-congress-legalise-abortion-in-the-first-trimester/


“Green Tide” Reaches Mexico as Oaxaca Decriminalizes Abortion

“Green Tide” Reaches Mexico as Oaxaca Decriminalizes Abortion
Oaxaca's monumental decision last week to decriminalize abortion is part of a larger "Green Tide" movement across Latin America.

October 3, 2019
Cecilia Nowell

The chambers of the state legislature in Oaxaca, Mexico, exploded with shouts of joy and rage September 25 as the region voted to decriminalize first-trimester abortions in a 24-10 vote. In the gallery, Catholic protesters chanted, “Assassins! Assassins!” while awaiting the vote. But when the decision was announced, feminist activists, clad in the green bandanas that have become the symbol of the Latin American pro-abortion movement, broke out in shouts of “Latin America will be entirely feminist.”

The vote exemplified the division between Mexicos deep Catholic, traditionally anti-abortion roots and its growing feminist movements. This tension was on full display in the chambers. Feminist activist Patricia Matus was one of the women celebrating in the legislature when the vote was announced. “The environment was horrible,” she said, describing pro-life demonstrators holding mass outside the state building, a verbal argument between male and female representatives that nearly delayed the vote, and shouting in the gallery.

Continued: https://nacla.org/news/2019/10/03/oaxaca-abortion-decriminalization-green-tide


Mexican Activists Take to Streets to Demand Safe, Legal Abortions

Mexican Activists Take to Streets to Demand Safe, Legal Abortions

By Reuters
September 29, 2019

MEXICO CITY - Mexican activists took to the streets in large cities Saturday to demand safe and legal abortions, many wearing green bandanas that have become a symbol with the abortion rights movement in Latin America.

The protests on International Safe Abortion Day come after the Mexican state of Oaxaca on Wednesday approved a bill to legalize abortion, making it only the second region after Mexico City to permit the procedure.

Continued: https://www.voanews.com/americas/mexican-activists-take-streets-demand-safe-legal-abortions


Explained: Abortion Rights in Mexico and Latin America

Explained: Abortion Rights in Mexico and Latin America
Here are some key facts and figures for specific countries

By Amy Guthrie
Published Sep 29, 2019

Mexican women on Saturday marched for abortion rights, highlighting increased efforts across Latin America to lift some of the world's most restrictive abortion laws.

Efforts to legalize abortion have emerged in the region as some societies become more liberal and the Roman Catholic Church loses sway amid clerical sex abuse cases. Mexico City, along with Cuba and Uruguay, are the only places in the region where women can undergo abortions during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy regardless of the circumstances.

Continued: https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/Explained-Abortion-Rights-Mexico-Latin-America-561721361.html


‘We have made history’: Mexico’s Oaxaca state decriminalises abo

'We have made history': Mexico's Oaxaca state decriminalises abortion
Lawmakers voted to scrap restrictions on abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy in a win for reproductive rights advocates

David Agren
Thu 26 Sep 2019

Women’s rights activists in Mexico are celebrating after the southern state of Oaxaca decriminalised abortion in a move that they hope signals broader reforms to ensure reproductive rights in what is still a conservative and deeply Catholic country.

Lawmakers voted 24-10 on Wednesday to scrap restrictions on abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, despite vocal opposition from the Catholic church. Opponents – including priests and the religious – screamed “killers!” at the lawmakers as the vote occurred, while women in the green handkerchiefs of the pro-choice movement chanted, “Yes we can!”

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/26/we-have-made-history-mexicos-oaxaca-state-decriminalises-abortion


Mexico’s Oaxaca becomes second state to decriminalise abortion

Mexico's Oaxaca becomes second state to decriminalise abortion
More than 9,000 women in the impoverished southern state undergo clandestine abortions every year.

Sept 26, 2019

The southern Mexican state of Oaxaca has decriminalised abortion, making it the second jurisdiction in the country to allow terminations for women who are up to 12 weeks pregnant.

The state legislature passed the bill with 24 votes in favour and 10 against on Wednesday.

Continued: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/mexico-oaxaca-decriminalises-abortion-historic-move-190926053242193.html