Mexico takes major step toward depenalizing abortion

Mexico takes major step toward depenalizing abortion

SeattlePI.com

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — Susana Dueñas could hardly believe the news: Mexico’s Supreme Court had decided that abortion could not be considered a crime. The 38-year-old woman from central Mexico had spent six and a half years in prison on just that charge.

The court ruled unanimously Tuesday that parts of a law in the northern border state of Coahuila criminalizing abortion were unconstitutional. The decision immediately compels judges across the nation to consider cases with that ruling in mind. And there are thousands of open cases in Mexico against women accused of illegal abortions.

Dueñas comes from the conservative state of Guanajuato, one of the 28 states that still outlaws abortion with some limited exceptions.

“It was moving to think that there aren’t going to be (more) women like us” — people jailed for abortions — Dueñas said. She was one of nine Guanajuato women released from prison in September 2010, not because the state declared them innocent, but because their sentences were reduced with help from an activist organization.

Dueñas was 19 in 2004, when she said she felt like something had detached inside her, went to the bathroom and then went to the hospital. She said she had miscarried, but hospital workers accused her of trying to terminate her pregnancy and called police.

Two detectives stood at the foot of her bed until she was released into their custody. She was later convicted of homicide by a judge and sentenced to 20 years. Cellmates bullied her in prison because of the charge, she said.

Tuesday’s decision will not immediately result in legal abortion being available across Mexico, experts say. The Roman Catholic Church remains a powerful factor, especially in more conservative states.

Only four Mexican states — Mexico City, Oaxaca, Veracruz and...

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