The battle for universal reproductive justice is ongoing in Mexico, where 19 of the 32 states have legalised abortion up to 12 weeks. But a 20th state has become a rara avis, where abortion is both a legal right granted by courts and a crime in the penal code.
Local feminists in Chihuahua, Mexico’s largest state, have won abortion rights in three class action lawsuits this year. These court rulings ordered the state government to provide abortion services throughout the public health system, establish protocols to help people access the service and inform them of their rights to do so.
They also ordered the state Congress to remove the crime of abortion from its penal code, in line with the 2021 Mexican Supreme Court decision that deemed it unconstitutional to punish somebody for having an abortion. This has still not been done.
