Mexico Decriminalizes Abortion in Major Step Forward for Reproductive Rights in Latin America

In a unanimous decision, Mexico’s Supreme Court issued a historic ruling Wednesday decriminalizing abortion on the federal level. While laws banning the procedure are still in place in a majority of Mexican states, people in those states can now receive abortions at federal medical facilities run the country’s public health system, and states will be barred from penalizing those patients and providers. The ruling is part of a wave of reproductive rights wins in the region, as Mexico now joins Argentina and Colombia in decriminalizing or legalizing abortion since 2020. “Latin America is actually leading the conversation on the protection of reproductive rights,“ says our guest Cristina Rosero, who worked on the lawsuit that decriminalized abortion in Colombia last year. Meanwhile, Mexico is on track to elect its first woman president, as its two major political parties have both named women candidates for next year’s presidential election. In the face of continued political violence against women in the country, the representation of women in its highest office is “definitely a step forward for our political rights here in Mexico,“ says Rebeca Ramos, executive director of the Mexico City-based reproductive rights nonprofit GIRE. Transcript: Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET. Support independent media: Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: