Cardinal Francisco Robles Ortega, Archbishop of Guadalajara, capital of the state of Jalisco (Mexico), expressed his firm rejection of the recent decision of the state Congress to decriminalize abortion up to 12 weeks of gestation, and described this practice as the “murder of innocent.”
On October 4, the modification of the Penal Code of the state of Jalisco, making it the eleventh to decriminalize abortion up to 12 weeks of gestation.
Sinaloa decriminalized this practice up to 13 weeks of pregnancy, while in Coahuila, although the articles related to the punishability of abortion have been invalidated, clear limits have not yet been established.
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The greatest push for the decriminalization of abortion occurred during Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s six-year term as president of Mexico. His party, the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), took advantage of its large majority in many states to promote legislation favorable to abortion.
“It should be called what it is: a murder of innocents”
Through his social networks, Cardinal Robles Ortega denounced on Sunday, October 6, that both the governor and the legislators want to make it believe that if the abortion is performed in the first 12 weeks “nothing happens to the new being” and that it is possible to “eliminate the fetus,” which is intended to be normalized as a “legal right to terminate pregnancy.”
However, the cardinal insisted that “it should be called what it is: a murder of innocents,” and specified that the work of legislators “should be focused on protecting life, not ending it.”
“One day they will be in front of God and they will have to answer why they approved a law designed to destroy innocent lives, such as abortion,” the Cardinal warned.
They ask the governor to “stop this calamity”
The governor of Jalisco, Enrique Alfaro, is expected to publish the reform in the official state newspaper in the coming days to make the modifications to the Penal Code official, considering that he will not veto the law, as declared to the media.
ACI Prensa consulted the Pastoral of Life of the Archdiocese of Jalisco on the issue, which in a written response urged the governor to reconsider his decision, stating that “there is still time to stop this calamity, with the courage not to go into history as the governor who supported a legislature of death.”
In a text sent to ACI Prensa, the pastor also emphasized the need for “the reasons that support the arguments of those of us who are in favor of life to be heard.”
He also denounced that the resolution of the state congress “does not reflect the opinion of the majority of the people in the state of Jalisco”, however, he recognized and regretted that “the anti-culture of death has been opening up space and has reached dominate the mentality of a representative sector of the population.”
He also expressed his “disappointment and indignation” with the legislators who voted in favor of decriminalization, arguing that “they have betrayed the will of the majority of the people of Jalisco and have opened the door of the law to a genocide of unprecedented proportions.”
“This is a cowardly act that obeys vested interests and that contributes nothing to the common good, as we have expressed on previous occasions,” he said.
Furthermore, the Pastoral de Vida of Jalisco committed to combat the “destructive evils of humanity and our youth” through evangelization and education.
Diego López Colin
I am a graduate of Journalism at the Carlos Septién García School with experience in religious institutional communication. Since 2016 I have been writing for digital media and, since 2018, I have reported the most important news about Catholic events in Mexico for the EWTN news channel. ACI Prensa correspondent in Mexico since 2023.