Mexico’s Supreme Court has decriminalized abortion, becoming the latest country to do so in Latin America.
Hundreds of women protest with songs and posters during a protest to ask the Government for the decriminalisation of abortion on September 28, 2019 in Colima, Mexico. (Photo by Leonardo Montecillo/Agencia Press South/Getty Images)
12 out of 32 states in Mexico have decriminalized abortion, but the Supreme Court decriminalized it across the whole country Wednesday Sep. 6.
Women take part in a protest to celebrate the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) that declared the criminalization of abortion as unconstitutional, in Saltillo, Mexico September 7, 2021. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril
In its ruling, the high court found that Mexico’s laws making abortion a crime are unconstitutional because they violate the rights of women and girls.
Women hold green handkerchiefs during a protest in support of legal and safe abortion in Mexico City, Mexico, February 19, 2020. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido/File Photo/File Photo
It ordered abortion be removed from the penal code, meaning that federal public health institutions will be required to offer abortion to anyone who requests it.
Pro-choice demonstrators celebrate after lawmakers passed a legislation that decriminalizes abortion, outside the local congress in Oaxaca, Mexico September 25, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Luis Plata
At that point, abortion was only legal in Mexico City and three other states, except in cases of rape or when a mother’s life is in danger.
Supporters of the legalization of abortion take part in a demonstration in the framework of the International Safe Abortion Day, in Guadalajara, Mexico on September 28, 2020. (Photo by ULISES RUIZ/AFP via Getty Images)
The Coahuila ruling that paved the way for states to begin to decriminalize abortion, with seven states doing so in the lead up to the latest Supreme Court decision.
Supporters of the legalization of abortion take part in a demonstration in the framework of the International Safe Abortion Day, in Guadalajara, Mexico on September 28, 2020. (Photo by ULISES RUIZ/AFP via Getty Images)
Just a week prior, the central state of Aguascalientes became the 12th state to decriminalize the procedure.
A demonstrator wearing a green handkerchief takes part during a demonstration in favor of decriminalization of abortion on the International Safe Abortion Day on September 28, 2020 in Queretaro, Mexico. (Photo by Cesar Gomez/Jam Media/Getty Images)
Women’s rights groups in Mexico have been campaigning for the right to legal abortions for more than a decade, successfully pushing for its legalization in Mexico City in 2007 and decriminalization in Oaxaca, Hidalgo and Veracruz states.
Hundreds of women protest with songs and posters during a protest to ask the Government for the decriminalisation of abortion on September 28, 2019 in Colima, Mexico. (Photo by Leonardo Montecillo/Agencia Press South/Getty Images)
Women demonstrate demanding the decriminalization of abortion during the Global Day of Action for Legal and Safe Abortion in Mexico City on September 28, 2022. (Photo by VICTORIA RAZO/AFP via Getty Images)
Demonstrators march on a street during a rally for the decriminalization of abortions in Puebla, Mexico, on Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021. (Photo by Koral Carballo/Bloomberg)
Women’s right groups hope the latest moves will continue to cause a Green Wave ripple effect on other Latin American countries.
Demonstrators gather during a rally for the decriminalization of abortions in Puebla, Mexico, on Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021. (Photo by Koral Carballo/Bloomberg)
As Latin America is a majority Catholic region, countries such as El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Dominican Republic ban abortions completely.
