Mexico's Green Wave
Mexico's Green Wave
A Major Victory for Reproductive Rights
For decades, reproductive rights groups in Mexico such as Las Libres and Grupo de Información en Reproducción Elegida (Information Group for Chosen Reproduction, GIRE) have been slowly but steadily chipping away at Mexico's historically conservative anti-abortion laws and sensibilities. Bolstered by a strong social connection to the Catholic Church and a historically male-dominated political system, Mexico's stance on abortion has been anything but accommodating.
But as I noted in my last article, the times they are a-changing.
Starting in 2007 in Mexico City, the decriminalization of abortion has slowly wound its way through 11 more Mexican states: Oaxaca, Hidalgo, Veracruz, Coahuila, Colima, Baja California, Sinaloa, Guerrero, Baja California Sur, Quintana Roo, and, just last month, Aguascalientes.
The Green Wave
Across Latin America, the reproductive rights movement is known collectively as the "green wave", so called because of the green bandanas often worn as a symbol of solidarity amongst reproductive rights activists. And on September 6, 2023, the wave in Mexico reached its crescendo when the Mexican Supreme Court completely decriminalized abortion in the country. In a fiercely-worded pro-choice, pro-human rights press release, the President of the First Chamber of the Supreme Court, Ana Margarita Ríos Farjat (4 of the 11 justices of Mexico's Supreme Court are women, including the Chief Justice), began the press release announcing the decision thusly:
The criminal provisions that absolutely criminalize the right to decide on the termination of pregnancy are contrary to the rights to human dignity, reproductive autonomy and free development of personality, the right to health and the right to equality and non-discrimination.
She goes on to write:
The Chamber held that the criminalization of abortion constitutes an act of violence and discrimination based on gender, since it perpetuates the stereotype that women and pregnant people can only freely exercise their sexuality to procreate and reinforces the gender role imposed by motherhood as a mandatory destination.
The courts ruling stipulates that all federal public health and federal health institutions are required to offer abortions to anyone who requests it.
The Adults in the Room
The United States Supreme Court, of course, in its headlong slide into medievalism, recently revoked the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion on a national level. And conservative-led states have been falling all over themselves in an effort to outdo one another with misogynism and sociopathy - with the boy-men of Texas leading the charge by literally turning their citizenry into an army of tattle-tales, imposing life prison terms for people who perform abortions, and even criminalizing the act of traveling out of state to seek an abortion.
This Lord of the Flies-level childishness stands in stark contrast with the grown-up words and deeds coming out of Mexico today. And while I still have a strong sense of affiliation with the United States, and the many good and unique qualities that country still exhibits, more and more I see Mexico as the place that embodies the values of equality, inclusion, freedom, and rationalism that resonate with my own sense of ethics and morality.
Yes Mexico seems to be going in a very different direction than the US. I think abortions are complex, but I believe if women are given the right to choose, they would generally do the "right thing" meaning not do late term abortions or use it as birth control, etc. I believe if we give women those rights, they would be more likely to step up and really consider the life of the child. It is such a complex issue when you get into all the corner cases and so interesting to see them just give carte blanc rights to women and assume best intent.
If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s self righteous hypocrites who aren’t satisfied with thrusting their medieval version of what they call superior morality on others. They must also look for ways to ensure that you aren’t able to move freely to avoid their authoritarian tendencies. Next thing you know, they’ll want to ban women from taking up residence in another state because they might be doing it to avoid lawmaker’s overweening desire to punish everyone who doesn’t think like them.
Excuse the rant, but the United States is going down the toilet as irrational zealots drool themselves drenched dreaming up schemes to keep other people down.
You can be against the idea of abortion. You can practice that belief, preach it, encourage others to adopt your belief also. But the problem is the dogmatic extremists can’t persuade in sufficient numbers in this manner so they need to enshrine their personal beliefs into law. The fact that they need to use the law in this way shows how weak their moral position really is.
The decision for abortion is for women, and those close, such as family, clergy, doctor, etc. Not for evangelic fanatics who aren’t satisfied unless they can slam the pickax of the law into other people’s throats.
Great article Mike, thanks. And I’m glad Mexico is moving in the right direction. We now return to our regular programming.