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Latin America in the Balance: Mexican Supreme Court Deliberates on Abortion Constitutionality

Pro-life organizations monitoring the case are urging that people contact the justices by email

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

MEXICO CITY, August 25, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In what could prove to be one of the most decisive events in the history of Latin America, the Supreme Court yesterday began its final deliberations on the constitutionality of abortion on demand, which was depenalized up to the 12th week of gestation by Mexico City in 2007.

After months of contentious public hearings, the justices will discuss the issue in several open sessions, which are being broadcast on cable television and the internet. They may vote on the issue as early as this week.

In order to strike down the law, at least eight of the eleven justices will have to vote against its constitutionality.  Pro-abortion forces believe they have three solid votes and are hoping for a fourth.  The justices are believed to be working under heavy pressure from both sides of the issue.

The court's assigned "relator" for the case, who is charged with reviewing the legal issues involved and producing a written opinion, has concluded in a 610-page brief that the capital city's law is unconstitutional.

The law has facilitated the abortions of over twelve thousand unborn children since its inception, and has provoked fierce opposition from the Mexican people, including the residents of Mexico City itself. 

In the year since its passage, support for abortion in the capital has fallen from 12% to 6% of the population, according to recent polls by Alducin and Associates and Consulta Mitofsky, reports El Universal.

The Alducin and Associates poll reportedly showed that 62% of Mexico City residents between the ages of 18 and 29 are opposed to abortion. 

The New York Times also reports that 85% of gynecologists in the nation's capital are refusing to do the procedure on grounds of conscience.

Ingrid Tapia of the Center for the Integral Development of Women noted that if the justices failed to rule against the law, in an attempt to avoid being viewed as "conservative", "the society would be disassociated from the political class" because the justices would be acting against what the citizenry "wants, thinks, and feels".

Pro-life organizations monitoring the case are urging that people contact the justices by email to express their support for the right to life.

Contact information:

The Eleven Justices of the Supreme Court of Mexico:
(can be copied and pasted into email "To" header)

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Previous LifeSiteNews Coverage:

Mexico City Pilgrimage to Protest Abortion Law to be Held this Sunday
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08062011.html

1 Year of Legal Abortion in Mexico: 6400 Legal Abortions, 22 Injuries, 8 Dead Mothers
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/apr/08040707.html

Catholic Church in Mexico Demands Physicians Resist Mexico City Abortion Law
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/apr/07043005.html

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