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.