Mexican State Oaxaca Legalizes Abortion

The women of Oaxaca, Mexico now have the legal right to terminate their pregnancies. According to the Guardian, lawmakers voted 24-10 to decriminalize abortion by eliminating restrictions on the procedure during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. This is a huge story for an extremely Catholic and conservative country like Mexico.

The Catholic church has denounced this decision while women’s rights activists are celebrating. Local representative for President Lopez Obrador’s Morena party Magaly Lopez said history was made for the dignity, rights, and life of the women of Oaxaca whose lives have been in danger due to illegal abortions, which are the third-largest cause of maternal death for women in the state.

“The women who die are poor, cannot pay for abortions, are judged and sentenced to death by a system that believes it is dangerous for them to make decisions about their bodies," Lopez told reporters.

Oaxaca is the second to Mexico City in legalizing abortion. Mexico City decriminalized abortions in 2007.

For more on this story, go to the Guardian site.