Historical Context of Activism in Mexico by the Catholic Church

     In 1859, self-proclaimed president of Mexico, Benito Juarez established a constitution that effectively removed the church influence and major authoritative presence within the Mexican government. Through his “Leyes de Reforma” Juarez gave authority to the government over institutions that had previously been managed by the Catholic Church, like  marriage. (1)
     The Mexican Constitution of 1917, established by congress, reaffirmed all laws pertaining to separation of church and state in the 1859 “Leyes de Reforma” and the 1874 amendments to the “Leyes de Reforma” which made the separation more distinct. The 1917 Constitution made the laws more severe in that it prohibited the clergy in participating in political activity. (2)
     After the establishment of the 1917 Constitution, the Catholic church developed a way to influence politics without a direct connection between the clergy and the government. The church’s new way of asserting influence was through (and continues to be) through lay organizations, As historian Ian Vallier states: “the Mexican hierarchy began to develop specialized lay groups and units related to growing spheres of secular change in society”(3). Through these lay groups the Catholic church continued to have influence over a large portion of Mexican society and therefore sustained the Catholic community within the country. One such lay organization that formed was Catholic Action (Acción Católica Mexicana-ACM) in the 1930s (4). However, it is important to note that this organization was directly supported by the Catholic church yet separate from politics. Historian Stephan J.C. Andes states in his analysis of this distinction, “Catholic Action acted as the religious and social training ground where the laity learned how to defend religion, and subsequently used this training for the good of civil society” (5). Therefore, a divide within organizations formed, in that some organizations, like the Catholic Action, were directly supported and somewhat governed by the Catholic church, while others were developed completely from a lay community yet have significant Catholic influence. One such type of organizations that formed include pro-life, anti-abortion organizations that were either directly affiliated or drew much of their mission from the teachings of the Catholic Church.

(1) CQ Press. "The Religious Conflict in Mexico." CQ Researcher. Last modified 2016. Accessed April 30, 2016. http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre1926080100.
(2) CQ Press. "The Religious Conflict in Mexico." CQ Researcher. Last modified 2016. Accessed April 30, 2016. http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre1926080100.
(3)Vallier, Ian. Catholicism, Social Control, and Modernization in Latin America. Modernization of Traditional Societies Series. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1970. 129.
(4)Andes, Stephan J.C. The Vatican and Catholic Activism in Mexico and Chile: The Politics of Transnational Catholicism, 1920-1940. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2014. 147.
(5)Andes, Stephan J.C. The Vatican and Catholic Activism in Mexico and Chile: The Politics of Transnational Catholicism, 1920-1940. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2014. 161.

Historical Context of Anti-Abortion Organizations

During the 1960s, a shift occurred within the Catholic church community that resulted in the formation of the Second Vatican Council, otherwise known as Vatican II. The council established by Pope John XXIII and was held from 1962 to 1965 (1). The council reaffirmed many church teachings, including the teaching that abortion should never be done because it is “a supreme dishonor to the Creator” and it, along with infanticide are “unspeakable crimes” (2). This teaching, which applied to the Catholic Church on an international level, and a rise of other widespread teachings against abortion spread throughout the Catholic church in response it seems to the increase in social movements and proposed legislation aimed at legalizing abortion. One such document that directly condemns abortion is the Declaration on Procured Abortion from the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, which was written by Pope Paul VI in 1974. In this document, not only was the act of abortion condemned but also the liberalization and efforts at legalization by those in support of giving women access to abortion (3). In the time following the publishing of these significant church many catholic influenced organizations formed in Mexico to combat the efforts of those proposing abortion legislation within the country.




(1) "Second Vatican Council." In Encyclopedia Britannica. N.p.: n.p., 2016. Accessed May 1, 2016. http://www.britannica.com/event/Second-Vatican-Council.

(2) Pope Paul VI. "Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World." Vatican. http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_cons_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html. December 7, 1965.

(3) Pope Paul VI. "Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: Declaration on Procured Abortion." Vatican. Accessed May 1, 2016. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19741118_declaration-abortion_en.html. June 28, 1974.

Domestic Catholic Church Influence and Organizations

     In Mexico, there are several organizations with the sole purpose of blocking abortion legislation. One of the oldest and most prominent organizations is Provida, otherwise known as Comité Nacional Provida, which is a religious based organization that was founded in 1978 in the capital of Mexico. This organization has been very active for many years through numerous methods, including legal action, education, protests and youth organization (1). However, due to the Mexican Constitution, no organization can be directly run or organizationally supported by Catholic clergy. For this reason, Provida has developed “very strong and direct [contacts] with senior Mexican bishops and the Vatican” (2). From this reality, there is no doubt that this organization is directly tied to the Catholic church. However, it is interesting to note that on the Provida website, there is no mention of the organization drawing its teachings from the Catholic church, instead they state that abortion is a “moral issue” and for this reason must be stopped (3). Andrzej Kulczycki, who is a professor and has written numerous pieces on the climate surrounding abortion throughout the world, states that Provida “is by far the most energetic of anti-abortion groups” within Mexico (4). This description shows that Provida truly is at the forefront of the abortion debate.
     Another similar pro-life group, Human Life International (Vida Humana Internacional) formed in Mexico, however this group is directly affiliated with the Catholic Church. Human Life International was founded by Father Paul Marx's, OSB in 1981 and has chapters throughout Latin America (5). Human Life international claims to organize “en defensa de la vida, la fe y la familia” (translated: in defense of life, faith, and family) (6). Through this mission, Human Life International is directly affiliated with the Catholic Church and promotes its anti-abortion teachings. Yet, the Catholic Church according to some scholars, should not be viewed as a “pressure group pushing an anti-abortion agenda: it offers the state a crucial source of social and political support and thus contributes to maintaining social stability” (7). This idea, along with the reality that the church and state are legally separate in Mexico, adds to the concept that these organizations are a part of Mexican society, and that the viewpoints they propose are representative of a part of Mexican society.
     However, not all Catholics within Mexico take the stance of pro-life in the abortion debate. One such organization that is representative of this faction is the Catholics for the Right to Decide (Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir). This organization was founded in 1994 as a way to empower women to have the ability to decide based on their own conscience, while also educating the community on pro-choice as a political stance (8). Catholics for the Right to Decide demonstrates the liberalization of the Catholic church, but also the divide that continues to seem present within the church between conservative and liberal Catholics. This divide, along with the polarization surrounding the proposal and legalization of the 2007 decriminalization of abortion legislation, increased.

(1) "Comité Nacional Provida México" [Mexico National Prolife Committee]. Last modified 2004. Accessed March 25, 2016. http://www.comiteprovida.org/.
(2) Kulczycki, Andrzej. The Abortion Debate in the World Arena. New York City, NY: Routledge, 1999. 98.
(3)"Comité Nacional Provida México" [Mexico National Prolife Committee]. Last modified 2004. Accessed March 25, 2016. http://www.comiteprovida.org/.
(4)Kulczycki, Andrzej. The Abortion Debate in the World Arena. New York City, NY: Routledge, 1999. 96.
(5)"Vida Humana Internacional" [Human Life International]. Last modified 2011. Accessed March 25, 2016. http://vidahumana.org/conozcanos/vida-humana-internacional.
(6) "Vida Humana Internacional" [Human Life International]. Last modified 2011. Accessed March 25, 2016. http://vidahumana.org/conozcanos/vida-humana-internacional.
(7) Ortiz-Ortega, Adriana. "Law and the Politics of Abortion." In Decoding Gender: Law and Practice in Contemporary Mexico, by Ann Varley, Victoria Chenaut, and Helga Baitenmann, 197-212. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2007. 200-201.
(8) "International Partners." Catholics for Choice. Last modified 2005. Accessed March 25, 2016. http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/about/international/internationalpartners.asp#Mexico.

2007 Legislation

     In 2007, Mexico City proposed legislation that would decriminalize abortion within the first twelve weeks of pregnancy. Before the legislation passed, a polarization between the conservative and liberal Catholics occurred that could be seen by the stance the Catholics for the Right to Decide movement took. This organization proposed abortion as a public health issue, "It's become as much a public health issue now as a moral question," according to the organization’s spokeswoman Sandra Fosado (1). Through framing abortion as a public health issue, this organization did not explicitly condemn Catholic teaching, but instead formed a distinct and modern perspective on the issue. This framing demonstrates a modern shift in belief in a portion of the Catholic community that contributed to a divide within it. However, conservative catholic groups as well as the Catholic church responded to the passage of the legislation in a significant manner.
     The Catholic Church held the 6th Pontifical Council for the Family in Mexico City in 2009. This council once again reaffirmed the Catholic teaching on abortion, “Destroying unborn life, which is completely innocent, is an act of supreme violence and severe responsibility in the eyes of God” (2). Having the council occur close in Mexico City, where abortion legislation was fairly new, demonstrates a strong reaction in opposition of the legislation by the Catholic Church.
     Yet, although Mexico is predominantly Catholic, some scholars believe the church does not have as much influence as it claims to have. One such set of scholars, Susana Lerner and Guadalupe Salas, explain in their article “Abortion Legislation in Mexico in the Face of a Changing Sociodemographic and Political Context,” the modern influence of Catholicism in regards to abortion, “the population puts certain procedures and behavior patterns into play in order to contradict sanctioned behaviors while at the same time maintaining its religious beliefs and practices” (3). The emergence of a liberal sect of Catholicism is therefore not surprising in that it may have developed as a way for Catholics to cope with modernism in regards to public health while also abiding to religious belief. Even so, as an entity, the Catholic Church provides significant international influence, yet, this influence was not great enough to impact the already passed legislation.

(1) Padgett, Tim. "A Pro-Choice Movement in Mexico." Time, March 30, 2007.
(2) "Pontifical Council for the Family: Preparatory Catechesis for the Sixth World Encounter of Families." Vatican. Accessed May 1, 2016. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/family/documents/rc_pc_family_doc_20080415_catechesis-mexico2009_en.html. January 2009.
(3) Lerner, Susana, and Guadalupe Salas. "Abortion Legislation in Mexico in the Face of a Changing Sociodemographic and Political Context." In The Sociocultural and Political Aspects of Abortion, edited by Alaka Malwade Basu, 203-23. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2013. 215.

Catholic Church: International Influence and Growing Secularism in Mexico

     The Roman Catholic Church, being an international institution, has provided and continues to provide great influence over Mexico. This is so because the Vatican sees Mexico as “pivotal to the diffusion of orthodox belief in Latin America” (1). Additionally, Mexico is a country with one of the highest number of Catholics within a population, with over 80 percent of individuals self-identifying as Catholic (2). There has been a gradual secularization within Mexico that has resulted in Catholics not “follow[ing] Church teachings exactly. For example, many use birth control, live in civil unions, have abortions, and do and accept things that are officially proscribed by the Catholic Church” (3). This reality therefore demonstrates the somewhat lack of conservative influence the Catholic Church once had over Mexican society, which in part may have had some influence over the passage of the 2007 legislation, as well as the polarization that occurred over the abortion issue.
     Ultimately, the abortion issue in Mexico has resulted in a secular division. Oritz-Ortega argues that the issue and division “is thus defined by the distance between, on the one hand, conservative religious agendas and, on the other, feminist, social, and gay activism, as well as political openings secured by these social movements” (4). With the reduction of conservative catholic influence, modern social movements have been able to develop and gain support. Yet, it is important to realize that the Catholic Church continues to influence mexican society. Ortiz-Ortega argues that true reform cannot happen until a complete separation of church and state, “Legal reform and changes in public attitudes toward abortion are not therefore enough to secure change in this area. A thoroughgoing separation of church and state is required at all levels, along with the economic changes that would enable Mexicans to meet the costs incurred in securing full access to their sexual and reproductive rights” (5). Mexico’s apparent secularization may continue to grow, yet at an institutional level, change cannot completely occur until separation occurs. With the strong history the Catholic Church has within Mexico, it seems unlikely that this complete separation is possible.

(1) Kulczycki, Andrzej. The Abortion Debate in the World Arena. New York City, NY: Routledge, 1999. 97.
(2) Sánchez Fuentes, María Luisa, Jennifer Paine, and Brook Elliot-Buettner. "The decriminalisation of abortion in Mexico City: how did abortion rights become a political priority?" Gender & Development 16, no. 2 (July 2008): 345-60. 352.
(3) Sánchez Fuentes, María Luisa, Jennifer Paine, and Brook Elliot-Buettner. "The decriminalisation of abortion in Mexico City: how did abortion rights become a political priority?" Gender & Development 16, no. 2 (July 2008): 345-60. 355.
(4) Ortiz-Ortega, Adriana. "Law and the Politics of Abortion." In Decoding Gender: Law and Practice in Contemporary Mexico, by Ann Varley, Victoria Chenaut, and Helga Baitenmann, 197-212. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2007. 201.
(5) Ortiz-Ortega, Adriana. "Law and the Politics of Abortion." In Decoding Gender: Law and Practice in Contemporary Mexico, by Ann Varley, Victoria Chenaut, and Helga Baitenmann, 197-212. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2007. 201.

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About this Blog

This blog seeks to explore how the Catholic Church, political elites, and feminist organizations reacted to the 2007 Mexico City law that decriminalized abortion. This blog will be a scholarly resource analyzing the religious, political, and social history of abortion in Mexico for women outside of Mexico who want to pass similar legislation in other countries.

The decriminalization of abortion in Mexico City signified a notable transformation of reproductive policy in Mexico. The 2007 Mexico City abortion law decriminalized abortion and increased women’s access to abortion. The law permitted abortion within the first trimester (first 12 weeks) without the permission of judicial institutions. The unprecedented Mexico City abortion policy transformed abortion from a crime to a right. However, while this can be considered a considerable success for feminist movements and pro-decision groups in Mexico City, the policy triggered a widespread tightening of abortion restrictions and increasing of penalties throughout the states led by religiously affiliated organizations.

The Catholic Church and feminist organizations had already effectively organized and mobilized in opposition and in support, respectively, of this legislative transformation. Due to effective mobilization of anti-abortion groups and political elites, the decriminalization of abortion in Mexico City also sparked backlash in other states who reformed the state constitution in order to protect life from the moment of conception. We ultimately determined that the 2007 abortion law created more harm than benefits for women because, while it provided legal access to abortions in certain circumstances, there was no consistency across states which effectively allowed state officials and medical professionals to obstruct the authorization of abortions without penalization.

Feminist Organizations and NGOs

“Abortion is the most important claim of feminism… the fact that abortion is a crime rather than a human right [reflects how] this system does not want women to be free.” (1)

In 2007, Mexico's Federal District became the first and currently only state within Mexico to decriminalize abortion in the first trimester. Those in favor of the newly instated abortion law reveled in the possibility of access to legal and safe abortion and healthcare services for many individuals across the state. However, millions of women elsewhere where this same law does not apply have to resort to often expensive and unsafe procedures in order to deal with their unwanted pregnancies and other healthcare concerns. To combat these issues various feminist organizations and NGO's have continually worked towards creating policies and procedures which allow them to assist individuals through a variety of services aimed at making the process of abortions safer domestically, regardless of the laws currently in place.

While abortion has been decriminalized by the state through the legal system within Mexico City and the organizations present there no longer have to struggle towards that objective, other organizations have pointed to the limitations that this circumstance provides. “ The law more strictly binds Mexico City NGOs in part because they rely on private funding agencies, an arrangement which considerably hampers their work in her view. [Organizations working outside of Mexico City], by contrast, operate exclusively with donations and honorariums precisely to avoid such restrictions. “[Mexico City NGOs] are continually administering the problem [rather than solving it] in order to have [governmental and private] funding and political power”. (1) This critique speaks to the distinct approaches that are utilized by the feminist NGO organizations which are often narrowed and controlled by the state system and policies they exist in.

In analyzing the organizations that work within Mexico City as well as the other areas where abortion has not yet been decriminalized, the variations that exist with respect to the work that is being done and the resources provided point to the stratified nature of the legal policies and practices of abortion. The posts provide information on some of the most prominent feminist organizations in Mexico and can be utilized as resources for understanding the strategies, tactics and methods in order to apply them in other areas of Mexico as well as transnationally.

(1) Singer, Elyse. "Abortion and Human Rights in Mexico." AnthropologyNews. Accessed April 2016. http://www.anthropology-news.org/index.php/2016/04/11/abortion-and-human-rights-in-mexico/.

International Pregnancy Advisory Services (Ipas)

Founded in 1973, Ipas is a global nongovernmental organization dedicated to ending preventable deaths and disabilities from unsafe abortion. Through local, national and global partnerships, Ipas works to ensure that women can obtain safe, respectful and comprehensive abortion care, including counseling and contraception to prevent future unintended pregnancies.

Transnational Policies

After the U.S. supreme court legalized abortion in 1973, two laws were created which impacted abortion policies around the world and led to the conception of the Ipas organization. The  Hyde Amendment enacted in 1976 was a domestic measure which prohibited Medicaid from subsidizing any services related to abortion. In addition,  the Helms Amendment to the U.S Foreign Assistance act denies the allocation of U.S. funds abroad to not only the very performance of abortion but also restricts the dissemination of information and counseling in U.S. funded clinics and facilities. (2)

Advocacy

Ipas engages with these limitations as they continually work with partners around the world on a variety of levels to reform these laws and bring comprehensive reproductive and abortion services into the health care systems. Specifically within Mexico, Ipas assisted in the passing of the 2007 Mexico City decriminalization abortion law by working alongside activists and other legislators and by "training medical and legal professionals, helping hospitals obtain high-quality reproductive health equipment, advocating for public policies that improve care and increase women’s access to abortion and creating a new generation of activists and medical professionals who treat women with respect and are well-trained in sexual and reproductive rights issues" (1) in areas outside of Mexico City as well.

Community Engagement 

As an organization whose objectives revolve around engagement with communities abroad, Ipas identifies the barriers towards abortion and health care in order to build upon their current systems and provide accurate information and knowledge to them, which enable individuals to make safer more informed decisions. In order to do so they build partnerships with local and national communities to address their needs and concerns. In collaborating with various outside organizations, institutions and communities Ipas is able to launch several innovative programs that build networks transnationally in order to achieve the goal of improved abortion and health care systems.  

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 Contact Information 

P.O. Box 9990

Chapel Hill, NC 27515 USA

phone: 919.967.7052

800.334.8446 (toll-free in US)

fax: 919.929.0258 

(1) "Who We Are." Ipas | Health. Access. Rights. Accessed April 2016. http://www.ipas.org/.

(2) "Foreign Policy." Helms Amendment  |  U.S. Foreign Policy & Funding  |  The Issues  |  CHANGE. Accessed April 2016. http://www.genderhealth.org/the_issues/us_foreign_policy/helms/.

Women and Access

Feminist theorist Joan Scott advocates for the inclusion of women in historical analysis in her piece "Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis." By examining the ways in which institutions, organizations, and individuals interacted to include abortion in their policy making, we observed how women are included in the development of Mexico as a nation. Although abortion was allowed under extenuating circumstances, significant barriers to access still existed because of inconsistent policies and insufficient distribution of accurate information. In reaction to the 2007 decriminalization of abortion in Mexico City, other states restricted policy to reaffirm their beliefs about gender roles and the organization of women within society.

In the years leading up to and the years following the 2007 decriminalization of abortion in Mexico City, the Catholic Church has become more conservative, and a divide is now present between conservation and liberal catholics. The emergence of pro-life and pro-choice organizations affiliated with the Catholic Church depict a social environment within Mexico that still very much values catholic doctrine. Yet, the Catholic Church has yet to frame the issue of abortion as an issue specific to those with the ability to give birth which is not uncommon in history. However, within the Catholic Church as an institution, the history of abortion and the present state of the issue is still not regarded in a historical context specific to women; it is regarded as a family and broader church community issue. In order to provoke greater change, catholic pro-choice movements should frame the issue in a way consistent with Scott’s theory which seeks to understand the social processes, between institutions, organizations, and individuals, with an understanding of gender dynamics.

On the other hand, feminist organizations utilize gender not as a limiting factor in the analysis of abortion and reproductive issues but rather as a tool in understanding how women and the issues pertaining to their lives have been crafted by their historical positioning as subjects regulated by and through various institutions.

The passage of the policy is significant because it acknowledges the importance of reproductive rights, especially abortion, in the economic and social development of Mexico and constructs a national identity that grants rights to women. However, because of the policy inconsistencies across states and the significant barriers that still exist, these rights are not as extensive as they could be. The 2007 decriminalization of abortion law in Mexico City is far more a symbolic demonstration for the domestic and international sphere.

The 2007 Mexico City Policy

In 2007 Mexico City decriminalized abortion. The law effectively legalized first trimester abortion (first 12 weeks) and eliminated costs to those without health insurance. The law also integrated sexual health education into the city and implemented programs that worked to prevent unwanted pregnancies. By presenting abortion as a secular issue, specifically one of social justice and public health, the decriminalization of abortion gained traction.

Within 6 years, there was a huge increase in legal abortions provided in Mexico City. In 2002, there were 66 legal abortions, performed because of extenuating circumstances. In 2008, over thirteen thousand legal abortions were performed, mostly within the 17 public hospitals in Mexico City that do abortions. Only a small portion of public hospitals have the resources to perform abortions, and private hospitals are expensive and do not have to comply with the same rules.

The legalization of abortion in Mexico City appeared to signify a liberalization of policy overall, however other Mexican states restricted abortion policy. Although women could travel to the capital to obtain an abortion, significant barriers to access still existed. Access to abortion is especially difficult for poor women, and the additional difficulties of transportation, social stigma, cost, and lack of clinics compound to continue obstructing access. Even where abortion is legal in most circumstances, such as in Mexico City, barriers still do exist (1).

(1) Kulczycki, Andrzej. "Abortion in Latin America: Changes in Practice, Growing Conflict, and Recent Policy Developments." Studies in Family Planning 42.3 (2011): 199-220.

International Policy Influences

UN Declaration on Population and Development (1994)

In 1994, Mexico signed the UN Declaration on Population and Development that bound the country to comply with international standards on reproductive rights. These standards articulate that a woman has the right to decide on issues related to abortion, without state interference and needs access to related pertinent health care services in the name of gender equality.” These international guidelines recommend policies and programs as well as require compliance from the member countries.

The recommendations directly connect population issues to development by recognizing the interrelated nature of reproduction to economic growth, health care, and the overall well-being of the nation. In doing so, it effectively frames population issues as crucial to the progress of a nation, and that they cannot be dissociated from the greater economic, health, and educational well-being of the nation, and thus, is in a country’s best interest to uphold the declaration. The declaration frames abortion as a health concern for women, and resolves that universal access to family planning information and services is the solution.

While it is significant that countries highlighted that women are “agents of change” and thus crucial to the development of a nation, the document articulates broad goals without alluding to the process in which to achieve them. Without detailed guidelines, these statements are too generalized to hold countries accountable for not upholding the declaration on population and development.

Although the 1994 UN Declaration on Population and Development played a significant role in shaping Mexico’s abortion policies, it occurred at a time when the “Global Gag Rule” was revoked by U.S. President Bill Clinton. The Global Gag Rule prevents family planning organizations from using U.S. funds to distribute information about the need for safe and legal abortions, or to provide abortions, for that matter. These restrictions not only limit access to abortion, but also the ability for women to make informed decisions about their health (1).

Information—demanded by the declaration on population and development and restricted by the Global Gag Rule—lays at the crux of the abortion issue. U.S. anti-abortion groups distribute propaganda such as graphic abortion videos and pamphlets that are used by Mexican anti-abortion groups (2). These multimedia sources can be used to manipulate women into making a decision about their abortion and the consequences as well as influence policies, such as changes in certain state’s penal codes that recognize the beginning of life at the moment of conception.

Information, aimed at either the Mexican Government or Mexican women, can effectively shape policy and personal decisions. By framing abortion as central to the political, social, and economic development of a nation, governments are pressured into providing women access to abortion to protect their national goals. Alternatively, abortion can be framed as destructive to the family structure, which is also posited as a central part of the Mexican nation. For women, information can effectively be used to empower women to make an independent decision about their reproductive health or to coerce, through fear, women into rejecting the option of abortion as a family planning method.


(1) Crane, Barbara B., and Jennifer Dusenberry. "Power and Politics in International Funding for Reproductive Health: The US Global Gag Rule." Reproductive Health Matters 12.24 (2004): 128-37.

(2) Joyce, Kathryn. "Mexican Abortion Wars American-style." Nation 297.11 (2013): 19-24.

Case Study: Paulina in Baja California, Mexico

 

Caso Paulina: En El Nombre de la Ley Documentary

In 1999, the story of “Paulina,” a 13-year-old girl in Baja California, Mexico captured national attention. Raped and impregnated, she filed a report with public officials. Under the state Penal Code, she had the legal right to an abortion as a rape victim. However, her story demonstrates the significant disconnect between law and practice within abortion policy in Mexico.

While no state official, judicial member, or health physician denied her an abortion, together they effectively delayed the process so as her pregnancy developed past the abortive stages. The officials also provided her with graphic information as discouragement.

These administrative barriers compound with other structural barriers, including poverty and rural living situations. In the process of continuous attempts at obtaining a safe and legal abortion, Paulina’s family paid huge bills to judicial and health systems. In the end, Paulina carried her pregnancy to term.

The state’s involvement in women’s decisions undermines women’s reproductive rights. State officials and medical professionals assert their decision-making power by making information inaccessible. While abortion may be legal in all states in cases of rape, twenty-nine out of thirty-two states have no clear legal guidelines to ensure the safe and rapid access to abortion for all women. Additionally, the lack of guidelines is yet another method of preventing the distribution of information as well as removing the opportunity to hold physicians accountable for objections to perform legal abortions.

Paulina’s case instigated congressional debates in Guanajuato, Morelos and the Federal District. Consequently, these three states all reformed their Penal Codes to include more exceptions for abortion. The national media coverage that Paulina’s case received, the explicit demonstration of numerous obstructions to a legal abortion, and the 2000 presidential election pushed abortion to the forefront of Mexican politics at the turn of the century.

Paulina’s case highlighted the problems with the inconsistencies in Mexico’s abortion policies, the ability of state and medical officials to undermine women’s access to abortion, and effectively mobilized groups to bring attention to these significant discontinuities between law and execution of the law. This case demonstrates the importance of national media coverage on the abortion issue in order to instigate international and domestic pressures on a government to liberalize policy according to international standards.

Grupo de Information en Reproduccion Elegida (GIRE)

GIRE, located in Mexico City, was founded in 1991 by Marta Lamas, Patricia Mercado, Maria Consuelo Mejia, Sara Sefchovich and Lucero González. 

The overall objective of GIRE is to develop legal strategies to respect and guarantee reproductive rights in Mexico, through the promotion of laws, policies and jurisprudence that advance the exercise of autonomy and reproductive freedom of people, especially women. In order to perform a comprehensive work of defending and promoting reproductive rights GIRE develops strategies which work in a wide range of issues in the context of reproductive rights that are especially relevant today. It's important to place GIRE within the current political and social context of Mexico City, where the 2007 Mexico City abortion law decriminalized abortions within the first trimester. In analyzing their areas of concentration as well as the resources they provide as a transnational organization, the disconnect between the legal foundations and the realities of accessing abortion and reproductive rights in Mexico becomes a more nuanced discussion.

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Abortion

"Access to legal and safe abortion is an essential part of reproductive health services to women who are eligible. It is based on the rights to life, health, physical integrity, privacy, non-discrimination and women's reproductive autonomy. These rights are recognized in the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States and international treaties on human rights. "(1)

GIRE's focus on reproductive rights after the enactment of the 2007 Mexico City abortion law altered conversations in and around the area surrounding the issue of abortion. While abortion may no longer be considered a crime in this particular area, access to abortion still depends on a number of different factors such as socio-economic status, varying levels of knowledge and information dissemination within different communities, as well as fluctuating degrees of stigma. (2) As a result of this legislation, GIRE can begin to improve upon other areas of abortion, apart from its legal aspect,  such as issues of confidentiality and the practice of conscientious objections. The can also begin to gather statistical data from the abortion services provided in order to evaluate them and have guidelines over areas of improvement. 

Maternal Mortality and Protection

"Maternal mortality is defined as death of women during pregnancy, childbirth or 42 days after delivery for any related to or aggravated by pregnancy, childbirth or postnatal period, or its management but not from accidental causes. The right to information [about the procedures associated with abortion] also intersects with the right to personal integrity and reproductive autonomy in regards to personal health. The state has an obligation to inform people about the nature of surgical procedures as well as the consequences they may have on health and fertility. "(1)

In defending against maternal mortality and providing for the protection of patients, GIRE is able to target some of the structural issues pertaining to reproductive rights and healthcare that is often masked by the the decriminalization of abortion within Mexico city. Issues pertaining to a lack of access to high cost healthcare services and the prevalent discrimination in hospitals that is the by product of stigma, signals the lack of protection for patients even after the decriminalization law was put into place.

Obstetric Violence

"In Mexico, when pregnant women come to hospitals they are at high risk of being verbally or physically abused. Obstetric violence, also manifests itself as denial of treatment, indifference to requests or complaints, scolding, mockery, irony, childbirth medical decisions are taken without their consent, to forced sterilizations."(1)

In achieving the goal of decriminalization for abortion in Mexico City, other issues have been left on the back burner and continue to be areas of deficiency. The health care institutions may provide the abortions, but as a result of complying with the law, that practice may exempt them from adequately working with the patients and providing safe and informed medical care as a result of their negative perceptions about abortions and the individuals who receive them. 

Access to Contraceptives

"Respect, protection and guarantee to the right to information and contraceptive services is particularly important for women, since it is they who bear the main negative effects of an unwanted pregnancy. The lack of access to contraceptive information and services directly impacts on the right of women to decide freely and informed to have children and when." (1)

The issue of access to contraceptives connects a wide variety of topics to the question of abortion. One of those is access to accurate and objective information which allows patients to understand their situations and make relevant choices based off of the options available to them, which is directly related to their reproductive rights. GIRE also takes a more complicated approach to contraceptives as they understand their importance but also recognize the dangers of forced contraceptives as they are often used to deny individuals of choice, which is a direct violation of human rights laws.  

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GIRE established the National Alliance for the Right to Decide (ANDAR) in 2000 to strengthen the exercise of sexual rights and reproductive rights of all people in Mexico. Organizations in ANDAR are:

- Catholics for the Right to Decide AC

- Gender Equity: Citizenship, Work and Family AC

- Ipas Mexico

- Population Council Mexico

These organizations work transnationally in order to fulfill GIRE's vision of becoming "a reference organization in the field of reproductive rights for decision makers, opinion leaders and health professionals and law; as they continue to share an advocacy model with civil society organizations in Mexico and Latin America and continue their strategic litigation techniques relating to reproductive rights violations."(1)

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Contact Information

Email
correo@giremx.org.mx

Mail
GIRE

Apartado Postal 21-147 

Administration 21, Coyoacan, CP 04021. 

Mexico, Federal District.



(1) "GIRE - Por Los Derechos Reproductivos En México." GIRE - Nuestras Temas. Accessed April 2016. http://www.gire.org.mx/.

(2) Dehlendorf, Christine, Lisa Harris, and Tracy Weitz. "Disparaties in Abortion Rates: A Public Health Approach." American Public Health Association, October 2013.