Abortion decriminalized in Mexico! Here's everything you need to know

The federal criminal penalties for abortion have been thrown out by the Supreme Court of Mexico on Wednesday. The Court held that the national laws that prohibit the abortion procedure violate the rights of women and are unconstitutional in nature. The decision comes after the cases of abortion access have increased.

The High Court held that abortion should be removed from the federal penal code. The current ruling makes it mandatory for federal public health service providers and federal health institutions to provide abortion to any person who seeks it.

The Information Group for Chosen Reproduction stated in a statement that no woman pregnant person, or any health worker will be punished for abortion.

However, the path to abortion is not all clear. Twenty Mexican states still continue to criminalize abortion. The judges in these states are mandated to adhere to the decisions of the court, but there is still a lot of legal work to be done to eradicate all penalties.

As the court's ruling came, the social media got flooded with celebrations all across Mexico.

For instance, the National Institute for Women of Mexico expressed the joy through a message on X, formerly named Twitter, saying that today is a day of justice and victory for Mexican women!

A former Supreme Court justice, Sen. Olga Sánchez Cordero expressed on X that the move represented a step toward "a more just society in which the rights of all are respected." The former Supreme Court justice called on the Congress of Mexico to pass legislation in the response.

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However, the action has not received only joyous responses. Some extremely religious nations denounce the decision. For instance, Irma Barrientos, the Civil Association for the Rights of the Conceived director stated that the opponents will not stop the fight against expanded access to abortion.

Barrientos expressed, "We're not going to stop."  "Let's remember what happened in the United States. After 40 years, the Supreme Court reversed its abortion decision, and we're not going to stop until Mexico guarantees the right to life from the moment of conception," Barrientos further stated.

The court expressed on X that the legal system that criminalized abortion in the federal law of Mexico was actually unconstitutional. This is because it violated the human rights of women, along with those of the people who held the capability to gestate.

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Two years ago, the court stated that abortion was not a crime in a northern state. That particular ruling paved the way for a gradual state-by-state process of decriminalizing it.

Criminal penalties have been dropped in the central state of Aguascalientes last week.

Now, the activists working to uphold abortion rights will be required to continue seeking legalization of the abortion rights state by state. However, the decision by the court that came on Wednesday will be making it quite simpler. Moreover, the state legislatures are also entitled to act upon their own considerations to eradicate abortion penalties.

However, it is important to note that at present, the ruling does not imply that every Mexican woman will actually be able to have access to the abortion procedure immediately.

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