Mexican activists hail abortion ruling but warn of lack of access to care

Source: The Guardian

Mexican activists hail abortion ruling but warn of lack of access to care

Campaigners say many facilities and medical workers are likely to deny access since procedure is banned in many local jurisdictions

Lillian Perlmutter in Mexico City
Thu 7 Sep 2023 21.51 BST
First published on Thu 7 Sep 2023 20.09 BST

Human rights activists in Mexico have welcomed a historic ruling by the country’s supreme court that decriminalized abortion, but warned that the historic decision will not automatically make terminations accessible for all Mexican women.

Wednesday’s unanimous decision stripped away federal criminal penalties related to abortions – but not the many local laws banning the procedure, which remain on the books in 20 of Mexico’s 32 states.

Employees at government health facilities will no longer need to worry about federal penalties for carrying out an abortion, and the ruling is expected to provide pro-choice activists with a powerful precedent as they continue their state-by-state campaign to roll back restrictions.

But campaigners cautioned that many facilities and medical workers are likely to continue refusing to carry out terminations – sometimes in all cases, and sometimes if the woman is unable to prove she does not have the means to care for a child.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/07/mexico-abortion-legalized-impact

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