Since the passage of the law decriminalizing abortion in Mexico City was upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court, there have been a number of backlash bills in state congresses. More than a dozen states have already seen constitutional amendments to protect life “from the moment of conception.” Last week, Yucatan joined their repressive ranks. The official law, passed July 15, was published on August 7th and it severely restricts reproductive rights and health. The constitutional and penal code changes:
- Criminalize use of IUD
- Criminalize assisted reproduction
- No medical services for women with ectopic pregnancy
- No legal abortion for pregnancies that put women at risk or the result of rape
Mexican citizens can take action here by sending an email to the state’s governor and congress-persons. I think US citizens could probably erase the text of the email and write something in English about how people all over the world care about the lives and health of women in Yucatan.
As I reported earlier, some Mexican NGOs are calling the rash of such ammendments a pact by the Catholic heirarchy.
I’m really surprised by this. I would love to see some analysis of where the support for this restriction originates. My impression is that Yucatan is a mix of truly old school Mayan beliefs, a slice of Mexican Catholocism, and a lot of more modern international immigrants. I guess I assume the international immigrants vote pro-choice, the Mexican Catholics are anti-choice, and the more rural/Mayan vote is mixed, somewhat disenfranchised and disiniterested which makes them ripe for abuse and getting pushed into voting in either direction. Thoughts?