Mexico: Abortion up to 12 weeks decriminalized in the State of Mexico and Chiapas

In just two days, the congresses of the Mexican states of Chiapas and the State of Mexico approved reforms to decriminalize abortion up to 12 weeks of gestation, bringing the federal entities with similar legislation in the country to 19.

On November 25, the Congress of the State of Mexico modified the Penal Code to eliminate sanctions for women who abort within the allowed period. According to a statement issued by the local parliament, outside this period abortion will continue to be a crime with penalties of six months to one year in prison, except for exceptions such as risk to the life or health of the woman or genetic alterations of the product.

Likewise, he reported that the initiative was “promoted” by the Commission for Gender Equality, chaired by representative Zaira Cedillo Silva, from MORENA, a party to which President Claudia Sheinbaum belongs. The project was supported mostly by MORENA legislators, while the opposition National Action Party (PAN) voted against it.

A day later, on November 26, the Chiapas Congress approved similar reforms. In this case, the initiative It repealed articles that criminalized abortion and established that women who perform it after 12 weeks will be “imposed from one month to three months of treatment in freedom consisting of comprehensive care with a gender perspective.”

The reform was approved with only one abstention, from deputy Jovannie Maricela Ibarra Gallardo, from the PAN.

These reforms are added to those approved on November 21 in Zacatecas, where the Penal Code was also modified to remove sanctions for the practice of abortion up to 12 weeks.

With these reforms, there are 17 Mexican states where abortion is allowed up to 12 weeks of gestation. Added to this list are Sinaloa, where the period is extended to 13 weeks, and Coahuila, where the penalty was invalidated by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, although no specific parameters have been defined.

Since October 1 of this year, when Claudia Sheinbaum’s government began, Jalisco, Michoacán, San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas, the State of Mexico and Chiapas, have decriminalized abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Reactions of the Catholic Church

Mons. Raúl Gómez Gómez, Archbishop of Toluca, capital of the State of Mexico, expressed his concern through a statementin which he warned that abortion “does not address the root of their problems and abandons those who need help the most.”

He highlighted that the measure, instead of protecting women, “can dramatically affect their lives and put their health at risk.” Likewise, he regretted that a “false perception has been generated that abortion is safe and that it is the only option when faced with a pregnancy in difficult circumstances.”

Bishop Gómez urged legislators to focus their attention on the structural problems that women face, such as “the lack of access to quality health services and the absence of economic and social support networks.”

In Chiapas, Bishop Rodrigo Aguilar Martínez, Bishop of San Cristóbal de las Casas and apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Tuxtla Gutiérrez, warned in a statement about “the damage that this law can cause to the moral fabric of our society.”

The prelate described the modifications as “contrary to all well-being of the person” and stressed that they must be rejected. According to Bishop Aguilar, laws like these “open the possibility of violating the right to life” and represent “a serious ethical and legal contradiction.”

He reminded legislators that their decisions have “not only legal repercussions, but also ethical and spiritual ones” and urged them to reflect on the consequences of their decisions.