Monday May 24, 2010
Supreme Court of Mexican State of Queretaro Approves Pro-Life Amendment
By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent
QUERETARO, May 14, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Supreme Court of the Mexican state of Queretaro has confirmed the constitutionality of a recently-passed pro-life amendment.
The amendment, passed for the state’s constitution last September with the approval of members of all the state’s political parties – liberal, conservative, and socialist – establishes the right to life from the moment of conception. It was approved with a 21-0 vote in the state legislature and subsequently ratified by two thirds of the state’s municipalities.
Victory for the law in the state’s Supreme Court is a positive sign for the pro-life movement in Mexico, whose pro-life amendments have swept through 17 states in less than two years. Pro-abortion organizations have promised to fight the amendments in the courts, but have lost every battle thus far.
The Transforming Society Forum, which includes 60 civil organizations, hailed the ruling as proof that the recently-passed amendments will meet the test of constitutionality.
“Abortion is not a right,” said the Forum’s president following the ruling, who pointed out that the state government will “guarantee the secrecy of the results, analysis, and decisions made” during the process of attending to the pregnancy, and will seek to help women in difficult pregnancies, according to the Mexico City newspaper Milenio.
The Forum reportedly delivered 59,000 signatures in support of the law.