Mexican Senate to consider bill allowing abortion in first three months of pregnancy

Senators from Mexico's Party of the Democratic Revolution, the country's largest leftist party, on Tuesday introduced a bill that would legalize abortion nationwide during the first three months of pregnancy, the AP/Guardian reports.

In addition, the bill proposes that government health clinics provide abortions to women who request them.

Under current Mexican law, abortion is permitted only if the life of the pregnant woman is endangered or if the woman has been raped.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Tuesday said, "I have a plain respect of the dignity of human life, and within this I believe the existing legislation is adequate."

Calderon's National Action Party is the strongest force in the country's Congress, according to the AP/Guardian.

The Democratic Revolution party also recently proposed a similar measure that would allow women to obtain abortions in Mexico City (Grillo, AP/Guardian, 3/21).

The Democratic Revolution party holds Mexico City's mayorship and the majority in the city's Legislature (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 3/15).

According to the AP/Guardian, Democratic Revolution party members are confident that the bill will pass in Mexico City (AP/Guardian, 3/21).

Leaders of Roman Catholic, Anglican, evangelical and Orthodox churches on Wednesday said they have united to call on their followers to advocate against the measures, the AP/Washington Post reports (Castillo, AP/Washington Post, 2/22).

According to Reuters, antiabortion groups on Thursday plan to march to Mexico City's assembly hall to propose a bill that they say would help poor pregnant women financially, give funding to adoption agencies and provide tax breaks for child rearing (Hamm, Reuters, 2/21).