Mexican women’s groups have expressed deep disappointment after the supreme court dodged a ruling on a proposal which could have opened a legal path towards decriminalizing abortion. In a 4-1 decision, the court voted against the proposal for technical reasons – without addressing arguments that restrictions on abortion violated women’s rights and contravened international treaties to which Mexico is a signatory.
The case centred on a court injunction in Veracruz, which ordered the legislature to rewrite its laws to remove penalties for abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The case centred on a court injunction in Veracruz, which ordered the legislature to rewrite its laws to remove penalties for abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador – a self-described leftist with social and fiscal conservative tendencies – has not made any moves towards reforming the country’s abortion laws, even though his party controls both chambers of congress and more than half the state legislatures. López Obrador said that he respected the court decision.
“Women’s rights are not a priority [for López Obrador’s government] even if he says they are,” said Maricruz Ocampo, who works with victims of sexual violence in Querétaro. “His actions demonstrate they are not.”
No comments:
Post a Comment