Women Go to Prison For Abortions in Mexico. But That Could Soon Change

In December, Mexico’s lower house of Congress approved legislation proposed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador that would grant amnesty to women federally prosecuted for abortion, including those charged with homicide. Archbishop Carlos Garfias Merlos said the Church supports the decriminalization of abortion for women who have been raped but opposes any additional measures. After Oaxacan lawmakers decriminalized abortion, it wrote in a tweet that democracy is strengthened with “the autonomy of women to make decisions over their own bodies.” Verónica Garzón, an attorney with the abortion-rights group AsiLEGAL, said López Obrador’s Morena party is quietly taking a progressive stand on abortion rights. Following public outcry, state legislators freed the women but didn’t vacate their convictions.Rodolfo Soriano-Núñez, a sociologist who studies the Catholic Church, said church leaders have become less focused on the topic of abortion under Pope Frances, who has criticized the overwhelming focus on the issue. The former governor of the state of Veracruz, which passed a constitutional amendment in 2016 banning abortion, was subsequently accused of money laundering and even giving watered-down medicine to cancer patients.“It was an awful tradeoff, and my perception is that they are paying for it now,” Soriano-Núñez said.While the Catholic Church’s authority has been weakened through Latin American because of sexual abuse scandals, it’s unclear how many countries will follow Mexico’s halting embrace of reproductive rights. On top of that, some women would leave prison and others would enter because abortion would still be a crime.”Miriam, who asked not to use her full name, said the years she spent in prison still haunt her.