Mexico becomes latest country in Latin America to loosen restrictions on abortion

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• Geoff Bennett:

  In a sweeping decision this week, Mexico's Supreme Court broadened abortion rights in that country.

  As Ali Rogin reports, it's part of a trend across parts of Latin America.

• Ali Rogin:

  For Mexico's abortion advocates, a historic victory. The country's Supreme Court this week struck down a federal law criminalizing abortion.

• Marlene Moran, Psychology Student (through interpreter):

  Mexico has deeply rooted traditional ideals. Having a legal context that supports our decisions represents a big change.

• Ali Rogin:

  The new ruling requires that abortion be removed from the federal penal code and that federal hospitals and clinics offer abortion to anyone who wants one.

  In 2021, the Mexican Supreme Court ruled for the first time that punishing abortion was unconstitutional, but it only applied to the northern state of Coahuila. While 12 Mexican states out of 32 had already decriminalized abortion, the new decision applies nationwide.

• Regina Tames, Deputy Director, Human Rights Watch (through interpreter):

  The decision regarding the federal penal code is setting an enormous precedent. We hope that the decriminalization in the remaining states will speed up.

• Ali Rogin:

  But the path to legalizing abortion has required years of activism, not only in Mexico, but across Latin America, where the abortion rights movement became known as the Green Wave.

  It got its name in 2018 after more than a million Argentinean activists wearing green scarves took to the street to demand abortion be legal. And it was a movement with decades in the making. It took hold in Argentina in the 1980s, but it wasn't until 2020 that that country legalized the procedure up to the 14th week of pregnancy.

  Other countries followed suit, including Colombia and Ecuador, where women can now seek an abortion in case of rape. Latin America has historically had some of the world's most restrictive abortion policies. But the recent regional trend towards legalization stands in contrast to the United States, where the Supreme Court overturn of Roe v. Wade ended a right that was upheld for decades.

  But, back in Mexico, some still continue to resist the changes.

  Irma Barrientos, Director, Association for the Rights of the Conceived (through interpreter): We're not going to stop until Mexico guarantees the right to life from the moment of conception.

• Ali Rogin:

  For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Ali Rogin.

• Geoff Bennett:

  For more on Mexico's landmark ruling, we turn to Maria Antonieta Alcalde . She serves as the director of Ipas Latin America and the Caribbean. That's a regional organization advocating for women and abortion rights.

  Thank you for being with us.

  Maria Antonieta Alcalde , Ipas Latin America and the Caribbean: Thanks for the invitation.

• Geoff Bennett:

  Well, as we heard, Latin America is in the midst of a so-called Green Wave, as countries like Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, they have knocked down major abortion restrictions in recent years. What's behind the move to liberalize abortion access?

  Because abortion laws have historically been fairly strict across Latin America, which is a predominantly, as you well know, Catholic region.

• Maria Antonieta Alcalde :

  Well, it's still a predominant Catholic region.

  And I think that one element has been, of course, the women's movement, the feminist movement. This has been part of the agenda of this movement for a very long time. And, also, I think that the region has been moving to acknowledging that, beyond the personal religious beliefs of the people, like, we need laws that serves everyone.

  And putting women in jail for having an abortion is not the solution. I think the solution is also not forcing anyone to continue a pregnancy that doesn't want and/or doesn't — or cannot continue. I think that there is a cultural shift, like also more progressive governments.

  There are, most of all, a very strong civil society movement behind this.

• Geoff Bennett:

  Do you see Mexico becoming a sanctuary for American women who are seeking abortion services?

• Maria Antonieta Alcalde :

  Mexico is already a sanctuary for American women seeking services.

  More and more, I think that we — like, in the past, Mexican women used to go to the U.S. for looking for safe abortion services. But since S.B.8 in Texas and with the Dobbs decision of the Supreme Court, we are seeing more and more, like in really large number, American women coming to Mexico or seeking for help.

  There are different networks of women mostly supporting other women to have abortions at home. And I think that, with this decision of the court, that safety net that makes women feel safe when they come to Mexico to look for an abortion is growing even bigger.

• Geoff Bennett:

  There are now abortion rights advocates who are looking south to parts of Latin America and the Caribbean for guidance on how to win back reproductive rights after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe.

  What lessons might they learn?

• Maria Antonieta Alcalde :

  I think, in the past, the U.S. movement used to be very isolated from the global movement.

  The Green Wave is in all Latin America, but,also, we learn from Poland from Ireland from other countries. The U.S. used to be very isolated, thinking that the — like, the Roe v. Wade decision was it. And I think that that prevent them from learning.

  I think the second lesson is that, in the U.S., the movement used to be, in a way, very branded by some of the organizations, the big organizations that have done an amazing work. But, in a way, the abortion agenda was kind of like the same that some of those organizations.

  And I think that one of the lessons learned is the importance of a vibrant movement that is very organic. And that's the lesson of the Green Wave, when young people can be — maybe they are not in favor of one or the other party, but they are in favor of the agenda. So, having a more organic, more vibrant, less branded movement and less controlled movement, it may be another one.

  And the third one, I think it's very relevant, is like, in the U.S., the access to abortion is — it's very linked with the idea that access has to be in a clinic. And, again, like, abortion is a service that could be very safely managed at home by the woman.

  So, Well,, those are three of the lessons that I think that we are sharing right now with the American movement.

• Geoff Bennett:

  So, when you refer to home management, you're referring to medication abortion.

• Maria Antonieta Alcalde :

  Absolutely, medication — like, I'm referring to medication abortion using two pills like — well, two medications, mifepristone and misoprostol. And that's completely safe, according with the WHO guidelines.

• Geoff Bennett:

  And we should also say that there are anti-abortion advocates who are now training their focus on Mexico to restore some of those restrictions, as we talk about the broader effort to ease restrictions across Latin America.

  Maria Antonieta Alcalde , thank you so much for your time and for your insights.

• Maria Antonieta Alcalde :

  Thank you very much for the space.