Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Abortion Decriminalized In Mexico By Its Supreme Court
Newsweek: Will Texas Women Be Able To Get An Abortion More Easily In Mexico?
The Tuesday decision by Mexico's Supreme Court banning punishments for individuals seeking abortions could expand options available to women in Texas who face tightening abortion restrictions under a new state law that went into effect last week. (Roos, 9/7)
The Washington Post: Mexico Decriminalizes Abortion, A Dramatic Step In World’s Second-Biggest Catholic Country
Mexico’s supreme court voted Tuesday to decriminalize abortion, a striking step in a country with one of the world’s largest Catholic populations and a decision that contrasts with tighter restrictions introduced across the border in Texas. Ten supreme court judges ruled unconstitutional a law in northern Coahuila state that imposed up to three years of prison for women who underwent illegal abortions, or people who aided them. The 11th judge was absent during the vote. The ruling is binding on other states. “Today is a watershed in the history of the rights of women and pregnant people, above all the most vulnerable,” Chief Justice Arturo Zaldívar said. (Sheridan and Chaoul, 9/7)
The New York Times: Mexico’s Supreme Court Votes To Decriminalize Abortion
The decision does not automatically make abortion legal across Mexico, experts said, but it does set a binding precedent for judges across the country. Abortion rights advocates said they planned to use the ruling to challenge laws in the vast majority of Mexican states that mandate jail time or other criminal penalties for women who have the procedure. For now, analysts said, women arrested for having an abortion can sue state authorities to have the charges dropped. Activists also plan to push state authorities to free women now serving prison terms for having had abortions. (Kitroeff and Lopez, 9/7)
NPR: Mexico's Supreme Court Decriminalizes Abortion
The decision was being celebrated as a major victory for the women's rights movement across Latin America that has gained momentum in recent years, prompted by record femicide rates and a major abortion rights victory in Argentina last year. Inspired by that hard-fought triumph, tens of thousands of women in Mexico have taken up green bandanas — a symbol of abortion-rights activists in Argentina — calling for the decriminalization of abortion beyond the four states where it is legal up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. (Romo, 9/7)
