Mexico City lawmakers begin hearings on abortion during first three months

Mexico City lawmakers on Wednesday began hearings on a bill that would allow pregnant women in the city to obtain a legal abortion during the first three months' gestation, the Los Angeles Times reports (Tobar, Los Angeles Times, 3/29). Lawmakers from Mexico's Party of the Democratic Revolution recently proposed the measure.

The party holds Mexico City's mayorship and the majority in the city's Legislature. Democratic Revolution party members are confident that the bill will pass in Mexico City. Under current Mexican law, abortion is permitted only if the life of the pregnant woman is endangered or if the woman has been raped (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 3/22). The Democratic Revolution party on Tuesday also filed a bill in the lower house of Congress that would legalize abortion nationwide during the first three months' gestation, the Associated Press reports (Grillo, Associated Press, 3/28). The bill also proposes that government health clinics provide abortions to women who request them. Leaders of Roman Catholic, Anglican, evangelical and Orthodox churches last week said they have united to call on their followers to advocate against the measure. Mexican President Felipe Calderon last week 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 (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 3/22). According to the Associated Press, thousands of abortion-rights opponents, led by Cardinal Norberto Rivera, marched through Mexico City on Sunday (Associated Press, 3/28). Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said wealthier women in Mexico are able to access abortions, while poor women use unlicensed practitioners or homemade concoctions to have abortions, McClatchy/Seattle Times reports (Hall, McClatchy/Seattle Times, 3/28).

Comments, Reaction
A group of lawmakers and academics on Wednesday at the hearing spoke in favor of the bill that would allow women to obtain abortions in Mexico City and said it is essential to efforts aimed at protecting women's health, the Times reports. "The fact that abortions are taking place throughout the country is an undeniable fact," Maria Alejandra Nuno Ruiz, a member of the city's Human Rights Commission, said, adding that unsafe abortions are the fifth-leading cause of death for women in the country and the third-leading cause of death in Mexico City. Yolanda Pena, an attorney who spoke out against the measure, said, "There's a lot of talk here about human rights, but I find it strange that people aren't talking about the human right par excellence, which is the right to life." Jorge Serrano Limon of Mexico's Pro-Life National Committee said that the measure "would create a veritable genocide in [Mexico], especially in the Federal District." He added that his group will call on doctors and nurses to organize "civil disobedience" against the measure if it passes. According to the Times, a vote by the city's Legislative Assembly is scheduled for mid-April (Los Angeles Times, 3/29).