As the debate continues in France about the presidential majority’s bill to enshrine the right to abortion in the Constitution – an announcement made a few hours after the revocation of this constitutional right by the Supreme Court in the United States – United – the club of correspondents turns, Thursday, June 30, to Latin America where the legislation in favor of abortion is progressing. This is particularly the case for Mexico and Chile.
A radical shift in Mexico
In Mexico, the legalization of abortion is gradually spreading since the Supreme Court decided to uphold the right of women to dispose of their bodies. Mexican feminists speak of a “green tide”. Last September the ten judges of the Court, unanimously, declared unconstitutional any penal sanction against women who have had an abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. They also prohibited lawmakers from protecting life from the moment of conception and limited conscientious objection by requiring health services to make abortion available to women who want it.
These decisions have caused a chain reaction at the legislative level: the restrictive laws are deactivated, they no longer have any effect, and in the process five states have legalized abortion, bringing to nine the number of states where this practice is free, out of the thirty in Mexico. And the other regions of the country are preparing their reforms in this direction.
The #MareaVerde se une al pañuelazo frente a la Embajada de Estados Unidos en México para dejar claro que el acceso a aborto seguro es un derecho humano ✊ #RoeVWade #AbortoLegal pic.twitter.com/hlgHhPjL7V
— MareaVerdeMx (@MxMareaVerde) June 29, 2022
It’s a radical shift after years of harsh abortion crackdowns in Mexico. But with abortion laws depending on the state, there were starkly contrasting policies across the country. In the capital, abortion has been open and free since 2007. Many women threatened with imprisonment in their region traveled to Mexico City to terminate their pregnancies. Until last year, there were still 200 Mexican women behind bars for having abortions. Some were serving sentences of up to 30 years in prison, their voluntary termination of pregnancy having been considered infanticide.
Curiously, if previously Mexican women traveled to the United States for an abortion, today it is the pro-abortion organizations in Mexico that send aid to American women who live under the yoke of anti-abortion laws . The use of the abortion pill is increasingly widespread in Mexico because it is available over the counter and inexpensive, whereas in the United States this drug is more difficult to obtain. Mexican activists send these pills by mail to American women who request them, in particular via the association Women on Web.
In Chile, the right to abortion in cœur of a referendum
In Chile, the right to abortion is enshrined in the new Constitution which will be submitted to a referendum on September 4, 2022. Chileans will have to say whether or not they accept the new constitutional text. In the meantime, the right to abortion exists in Chile but under very restricted conditions. Abortion is only possible in three cases: if the woman’s life is in danger, if there has been rape or malformation of the foetus. Situations that are often difficult to demonstrate. And in this still very conservative country, where the Catholic Church is strong, several doctors refuse to perform abortions citing conscientious objection. There would be around a thousand legal abortions per year and the associations estimate that 70,000 abortions take place clandestinely each year.
But with the new Constitution, things could change. Thanks in particular to the work of feminist movements, which are very powerful in Chile, article 16 has been included in the new Constitution. And he says that “the State shall ensure that all women and persons capable of bearing a child have access to voluntary termination of pregnancy.” The text also specifies that it will be up to the State to establish laws to regulate abortion. There is therefore still a long way to go before abortion is fully legalized in the country.
The elected members of the constituent assembly today adopted the final text of the draft new constitution after almost a year of work.
The text will be submitted to referendum on September 4th. #ConvencionConstitucional #aprueboEl4deSeptiembre https://t.co/tV55JWJCZ1
— Nicolas Souveton (@NSouveton) June 28, 2022
Especially since the new Constitution has not yet been approved. A final referendum is scheduled for September 4. Chileans will have to vote “for” or “against” the new fundamental text. And according to several polls carried out in recent weeks, the “no” to the new Constitution could win. The conservative sectors and the Chilean right have launched the “Rechazo” campaign for the rejection of the new constitutional text. A lot of false information circulates, especially about abortion. A right-wing senator, for example, affirmed a few days ago, on a local radio, that the new Constitution would authorize abortion for up to nine months, which is of course false.
If the new Constitution were approved, abortion would become a fundamental right that would no longer be subject to changes in government or parliamentary majorities. And Chile would then become the first country in the world to constitutionalize this right.