Mexico City Legalizes Abortion
Abortion was decriminalized in Mexico City (not the whole country) on April 24, with a legislative vote of 46-19. Women can now have abortions on request up till 12 weeks of gestation. City hospitals must provide the procedure and private abortion clinics may open. Girls under 18 have to get their parents' consent, but the procedure will be almost free for poor or insured city residents. Unfortunately, except in cases of medical emergency, women seeking abortions may have to prove residency in Mexico City. Outside the city, abortion is technically allowed only in cases of rape, severe birth defects or if the woman's life is at risk. Also, abortion after 12 weeks is punishable by three to six months in jail. Still, Mexico now has one of the most progressive laws on abortion in Latin America, after only Cuba and Guyana.
The health law was also strengthened to guarantee sexuality education and campaigns on reproductive and sexual rights, the availability of birth control methods, as well as comprehensive and quality abortion services upon request. Up until now, about 800,000 illegal abortions were estimated to take place every year in Mexico. Well-off women could easily get abortions at private clinics, but poor women had to self-abort or go to unskilled practitioners.
Links
"Mexico
City legalizes abortion; defies church", April 25, Reuters, by
Catherine Bremer
"Mexico
City law may push out abortion subculture", May 1 2007, Miami
Herald, by Cecilia Sanchez and Hector Tobar
Partial-birth Abortion Ban Upheld in U.S.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the so-called Partial-Birth
Abortion Ban Act on April 18. This travesty of a decision, made by
five male devout Catholic judges, guts over 30 years of case-law
precedent on abortion, and criminalizes a particular type of abortion
for the first time. Most significantly, the decision says an exception
to protect the woman's health is not required when
passing abortion restrictions (only the woman's life).
This means that women's health is subordinate to the fetus' right to
live, so in American society today, men are now on top, with fetuses
second, and women third (tied with children). Anti-abortion groups are
ecstatic because this opens the floodgates for more anti-abortion
restrictions, as well as signaling the possible overturning of Roe v
Wade in the not-too-distant future.
The decision itself is paternalistic and ideological, and based on
flimsy legal arguments, such as irrationally asserting that the law can
only be challenged in court now by an individual woman who suddenly
needs the procedure in an emergency. The decision basically lets
legislators into the operating room to make the medical decisions, and
prevents doctors from making medical decisions in the best interests of
their patients.
The lone woman on the court, Ruth Bader-Ginsburg, read aloud from the
bench her scathing
dissent, joined by Justices Stevens, Souter, and Breyer. It is
well-worth reading (scroll down to page 49 to view).
Irish Girl Wins Right To Travel for Abortion
An interesting case that has not gotten much media attention in North America unfolded in Ireland in May. A 17 year old girl who was a ward of the Health Service Executive (HSE) had a wanted pregnancy with her boyfriend that turned bad. When she was 18 weeks pregnant, she discovered her fetus had anencephaly (a brain condition) and could not survive after birth. The HSE refused her permission to travel to England for an abortion because she was underage and in care. (Abortion is illegal in Ireland; the country has a constitutional amendment protecting life from conception with "equal regard" to the life of the woman.) The girl, known as Miss D, very bravely went to court and endured a major 10-day media circus. The Irish high court granted her leave to go to England, under certain conditions. She received her abortion in England about a week later.
For details and a complete record of events, see the Safe & Legal campaign site in Ireland.