Mexico Supreme Court Allowed Abortions Same Day as Smoking Ban in Place
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 6, 2008
Mexico City, Mexico (LifeNews.com) — The Mexico Supreme Court has come under fire for upholding a federal district law allowing abortions up to 12 weeks into pregnancy. The ironic decision came on the same day when a ban on smoking in public went into effect.
Paz Fernandez, a Mexican pro-life advocate who is one of the founders of Red Familia (The Family Network),noted the juxtaposition.
While a woman is waiting her turn in the queue for an abortion, after filling out a form with less requirements than for a parachute jump, of course, she mustn’t smoke,” Fernandez says.
The Mexican Supreme Court decision, coming in an 8-3 ruling, has received significant condemnation from pro-life group, and Larry Jacobs, the director of the international pro-life organization World Congress of Families, has joined in.
He says the decision went further than the Roe v. Wade opinion released by the United States Supreme Court.
While the American high court created a right to abortion that didn’t exist in the Constitution, the Mexico high court allowed the federal district to legalize abortions even though the Mexican constitution contains specific provisions protecting the right to life of unborn children.
"In Roe v. Wade, in 1973, the United States Supreme Court read a right to abortion into the our Constitution,” Jacobs told LifeNews.com.
“If that wasn’t bad enough, the Mexican Supreme Court condoned the Federal District’s legalization of abortion notwithstanding a specific provision in that nation’s constitution calling on government to protect life from the moment of conception,” he explains. "You might say the Mexican Supreme Court decision is Roe v. Wade on steroids.”
Jacobs said the justices also ignored opinion surveys which showed 65% of Mexicans oppose the legalization of abortion.
Under the law (passed by the Federal District’s Legislative Assembly), the city’s health services is required to provide free abortions through the 12th week of gestation. To date, 12,000 abortions have been performed under the law, about one-fifth of them on non-residents.
Several women have died from abortions already and countless more have suffered from medical or mental health complications.
The 2007 Warsaw Declaration, adopted by World Congress of Families IV, calls on governments to demonstrate "respect for the life of every human being, from conception to natural death."
Sign Up for Free Pro-Life News From LifeNews.com
Daily Pro-Life News Report Twice-Weekly Pro-Life
News Report Receive a free daily email report from LifeNews.com with the latest pro-life news stories on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here. Receive a free twice-weekly email report with the latest pro-life news headlines on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here.
