By Chandra Noyes | Annual Fund Officer
In case you missed it in the news, Mexico’s Supreme Court issued a historic ruling that declared unconstitutional the abortion regulations in the country’s federal penal code—including the criminalization of people who have abortions and the health-care providers who perform them. This is a big win!
Mexico now joins a growing list of Latin American countries that have liberalized their national abortion laws in recent years in response to the Green Wave feminist movement. Ipas is a part of that movement, and we are so proud of this latest success.
“This is huge progress in the recognition of reproductive rights,” says María Antonieta Alcalde, director of Ipas Latin America and the Caribbean. “We are very proud to be part of the Green Wave movement that has worked so hard to advance women’s rights.” Ipas has worked in Mexico since 1995, supporting the state and federal health systems, training abortion providers, building advocates for reproductive rights and educating communities about sexual and reproductive health.
The Green Wave has been inspiring activists around the world for years with its expansive, grassroots organizing to advance abortion rights. Powerhouse Argentinian activist Pamela Martín García said it best when we chatted with her two years ago, in the wake of Argentina’s historic abortion law change: “The Green Wave is made up of all of us. The Green Wave is for all of us.”
The ruling highlights how Mexico, along with other countries in Latin America, are increasingly recognizing the reproductive autonomy of women, girls, and adolescents, and their right to make informed decisions about their own bodies.
The Supreme Court’s ruling will ensure that abortion is legally available in all federal health institutions—including in every state where abortion remains illegal according to state law (some states had already made abortion legal prior to this federal ruling).
Ipas and other advocates for abortion access will now continue pushing for state-level law change where abortion restrictions persist.
Will you help us continue the progress of the Green Wave by donating today?
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
