On August 28, the Supreme Court of Mexico voted to uphold legislation that legalizes abortion in Mexico City, the nation’s capital. Legislators of Mexico City passed the law, which allows for unrestricted abortions in the first trimester, in April 2007.
Currently, the majority of Mexican states only permit abortion in certain cases, such as rape or if the mother’s life were at risk. However, many believe that the Supreme Court decision for Mexico City will push other states in Mexico to offer legal access to abortion as well. According to the statistics of Mexico City, over 12,000 women have been able to access safe and legal abortion services since the law passed in April, 2007.
Mexico’s population, representing the second largest Roman Catholic country in the world, is split over this legislation.
Women’s rights advocates, feminist groups, and Catholic organizations have stood in support of the legislation. María Consuelo Mejía, director of Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir in Mexico, called the legislation “a triumph for women’s rights.”
The hierarchy of the Catholic Church in Mexico, on the other hand, has denounced the legislation. The Conference of Mexican Bishops, after receiving a letter from Pope Benedict urging them to oppose this legislation, issued a statement calling for a commitment to a “culture of life.” Bishops Carlos Aguiar Retes and Jose Leopoldo Gonzalez state: “When a society debates the legalization of abortion, what is really being discussed is the future of the nation.”
Other countries with strong Catholic populations have also taken nation-wide actions that seem to negate the institutional Church’s major concerns about abortion, homosexuality, and contraception. For instance, in 2005, Spain (90% Catholic) legalized same-sex marriage. And, in 2007, Brazil—the country with the largest Catholic population in the world—promoted emergency contraception as part of its birth control plan.
On the other hand, in the United States, only 24% Catholic, the institutional Catholic Church has managed to have a great deal of impact on legislation concerning the same topics. For example, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was recently reauthorized. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Relief Services lobbied hard to retain the “conscience clause” and abstinence-only funding. They were successful in meeting their goals.
So, why can largely Catholic countries such as Brazil, Spain, and Mexico manage to pass legislation despite the cries of the institutional Church, while U.S. Catholic Church hierarchy influences legislation so heavily? It would appear that the country preaching separation of church and state has trouble maintaining that standard.
