Fewer unborn babies were aborted in Mexico City abortion facilities during the coronavirus lockdowns, according to a new report from the Catholic News Agency.
Some abortion facilities in the Mexico capital saw a 40% drop in abortions this spring while people were confined to their homes, the report states. Other countries reported similar situations, and a recent study out of India estimated about 1.85 million unborn babies may have been saved from abortions during the coronavirus shutdowns.
The news means more unborn babies’ lives may have been saved, but Mexican pro-life advocates said abortion activists are spinning it in a negative light. These abortion activists wrongly claim women need access to abortions, and they are pushing dangerous at-home abortions for women who cannot travel.
María Lourdes Varela, director of 40 Days for Life in Ibero-America, told CNA that babies should be celebrated, not destroyed.
“We’re asking people not to see children as the enemy,” Lourdes Varela said. “If there are more babies, they should be welcomed as they are human beings who deserve the same rights and opportunities as we do.”
Alison González, spokeswoman for the pro-life organization Pasos por la Vida (Steps for Life), told ACI Prensa that international pro-abortion groups are pressuring Mexico to legalize abortion on demand, instead of promoting policies that help mothers and unborn babies.
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“[It’s] incredible that given the times we’re living in there are institutions that only think about abortion,” she said.
“For example, this is what ought to be promoted: access to education–because at least in Mexico it’s insufficient, low quality and not equal for everyone – having comprehensive maternity insurance for all pregnant women, and job opportunities for women,” González continued. “Women must be protected, accompanied and supported so that they can experience integral personal development within their family.”
Abortion laws vary by state in Mexico. Abortions are legal up to 12 weeks in Mexico City, but most states prohibit or widely restrict the killing of unborn babies in abortions. In May, the states of Guanajuato and San Luis Potosi kept their legal protections for unborn babies in place after lawmakers rejected efforts to legalize abortions.
Many states have pushed back against the pressure to legalize abortion by reaffirming unborn babies’ right to life. In 2016, the AP reported 18 of the 32 states in Mexico passed right to life measures, including state constitutional amendments recognizing that unborn babies deserve protections under the law. This includes the state of Veracruz, which approved a constitutional amendment to “protect life from conception.”
Opposition to abortion is strong in Mexico. March for Life events in the country have drawn hundreds of thousands of people together to stand up for the rights of unborn babies.
