Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Abortion in Mexico

Veracruz's congress passed a constitutional amendment defining life as beginning at conception and outlawing abortion, punishable by up to 4 years in prison. The practice was already illegal, though it was not codified in the constitution. The new law refers to but does not specify exceptions to the law. El Universal says that Veracruz is the 17th state to outlaw abortion, but I believe it is not explicitly legal anywhere outside of Mexico City, and that in the remaining states it has not been written into the constitution but it is in effect illegal. In Coahuila, which is not listed among the 17, from what I understand there are no abortion clinics, and for a woman to have one performed she basically needs to know a friendly doctor.

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