By Elizabeth O’Brien
MEXICO CITY, 31 May 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Just over one month after the legalization of abortion in Mexico City, a total of 230 abortions have taken place within the federal district of the city, and 700 more have been requested. While 38% of these abortions were performed on women between the ages of 20 and 24, only three of these were on girls between the ages of 10 and 14, according to El Universal Gráphico. Medical News also said that 6% of abortions requests are from girls under the age of 18 years of age.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Mexico City Health Secretary Manuel Mondragon explained, “There has not been a huge demand, like many people supposed…Abortion opponents, he said, “thought that once abortion was legalized, everyone would get one. That hasn’t been the case.”
Many fear that if the law is not reversed, the number of abortions will increase within the federal district and throughout predominantly pro-life Latin America.
Despite the protests of many religious leaders and Mexican citizens, the city government led Party of the Democratic Revolution legalized abortion within Mexico City on April 24. Because this action directly went against policies of the federal government under the Mexican National Action Party, Attorney General Eduardo Mora of the NAP, along with the National Human Rights Commission, requested that the law be reinvestigated in order to see whether it is actually constitutional.
San Diego News reports that Supreme Court Justice Sergio Salvador Aguirre explained that the Mexican constitution includes the ‘right to life’ . The new law clearly violates this principle and may be overruled by the federal government. On Tuesday, May 29, the Mexican federal government accepted the petition. The Supreme Court has agreed to hold a hearing, but the specific date has not yet been decided.
Mexico City is the residence of the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas and of the Unborn. Her picture has been a symbol of hope since the early Aztec culture of human-sacrifice, and she continues to inspire people today in the struggle to protect the unborn from the modern culture of death.
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Mexico City Legalizes Abortion:
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/apr/07042501.html
Mexican Attorney General Challenges Abortion Law:
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/may/07052805.html