How Mexican activists have won the right to legal abortion
In an interview with Conectas, Lola Guerra, co-director at the NGO Católicas Pelo Direito de Decidir (Catholics for the Right to Decide) in Mexico, told us that the Supreme Court´s recent decision is the result of feminist efforts in defence of women´s human rights
A ativista Lola Guerra, da ONG Católicas Pelo Direito de Decidir. Foto: Reprodução/Redes Sociais
This was a victory for movements and organisations that defend women´s human rights in Mexico. At the beginning of September, the country´s Supreme Court decided that to punish the practice of abortion is unconstitutional.
Following this decision, authorities are impeded from using the Penal Code to arrest and send anyone to trial who voluntarily terminates a pregnancy. The next step is for Mexican states to bring their legislation into line with the judicial decision.
In the interview with Conectas, Lola Guerra, co-director at the NGO Católicas Pelo Direito de Decidir, in Mexico, stressed the importance of the presence of feminist activists in different segments of society when it came to building and disseminating the judicial, ethical and human rights arguments which made it possible for ministers of the Supreme Court to understand that decriminalisation of abortion increases Mexican women´s human rights.
The country has deep religious roots and the judgment was marked by pro- and anti- legal abortion protests both on social media and on the streets. On the one hand, conservative Catholics displayed their rosaries. On the other, Catholic feminists, like Guerra, chanted at different protests: “saca tu rosario de mis ovarios” (get your rosary out of my ovaries).
Read the interview here:
Conectas – What does the Supreme Court decision to declare the criminalisation of abortion unconstitutional mean to Mexican women?
Lola Guerra – The Supreme Court decision is historic because it determines that no woman can be arrested for aborting in any Mexican state. This changes the way in which the matter is treated in the country. What we are celebrating with this decision is that it respects the principle of secularism, in other words it is not based on conservative religious principles. The decision is actually firmly founded on Mexico´s constitutional principles. Basically, it has been set out that no-one in the republic will be able to start a criminal case that differs from judicial understanding. We are now discussing what is to happen to the women who were imprisoned before this decision, under legislation that is considered unconstitutional. We are going to work on freeing the women who are either in prison or who have police lawsuits in progress. We can clearly state that these detentions are in violation of the women´s human rights. Finally, it is a historical moment that gives us the freedom to defend women´s rights.
Conectas – What was the role of feminist activists in this decision? How did the feminist movement organise in Mexico in order to achieve this victory?
Lola Guerra – The role of the feminist movement in this decision has been fundamental. The ministers themselves said that this is part of the Pañuelo Verde struggle [this is the name given to the protests that took place in a number of countries in which women wore green headscarves with messages defending legal abortion]. The history of the Mexican feminist movement is a strong and forceful one and because of this we have built judicial, human rights, ethical and other arguments that have allowed the discussion on women´s human rights to progress. Feminist women are taking this discussion to the streets, to people´s organisations, to academic groups, to civil society institutions and to numerous other places. This work has made it possible to make the important advances we are seeing now. This year, even before the Court´s decision, a number of states had been discussing legislation to restrict the rights of Mexican women, but they were not passed. This shows that the matter is of relevance to the Mexican people. So, it is not the victory of the Supreme Court, but of a movement that is working for women´s human rights to be respected.
Conectas – Do you believe that the Mexican example could inspire other Latin American countries?
Lola Guerra – I have no doubt. I hope that other Latin American countries will advance in the same way. However, we have to understand the formation of the Supreme Courts of each country, because some are more mixed and others more conservative. The Supreme Court in Mexico is very committed to women´s human rights. However, sexual and reproductive rights are making advances in the region, including now during the Covid-19 pandemic. For example the Dominican Republic [the feminist movement criticised the idea of holding a referendum to decide on this matter], Ecuador [the Constitutional Court decriminalised abortion for rape cases in April 2021 ], Argentina [In December 2020, the Senate approved a bill of law to legalise abortion] Chile [Deputies are discussing the legalisation of abortion].
