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In April 2007, the Mexico City, Mexico, legislature passed landmark legislation decriminalizing elective abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
In Mexico City, safe abortion services are now available to women through the Mexico City Ministry of Health's free public sector legal abortion program and in the private sector, and more than 89 000 legal abortions have been performed. By contrast, abortion has continued to be restricted across the Mexican states (each state makes its own abortion laws), and there has been an antichoice backlash against the legislation in 16 states.
Mexico City's abortion legislation is an important first step in improving reproductive rights, but unsafe abortions will only be eliminated if similar abortion legislation is adopted across the entire country. (AmJPublicHealth. 2013;103:590-593. doi:10. 2105/AJPH.2012.301202)
IN APRIL 2007, THE MEXICO City, Mexico, legislature passed landmark legislation decriminalizing elective abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The law included a provision that abortion services be available to women at Mexico City (Distrito Federal) Ministry of Health (MOH-DF) facilities in the city, free of charge for Mexico City residents and on a sliding fee scale for those outside Mexico City. In addition, the law strengthened sexual education curricula in schools and called for widespread access to contraceptive methods. Shortly after being passed, the law was challenged in the Mexican Supreme Court by groups opposed to the legislation, but in August 2008, the Supreme Court voted to uphold the law.1,2
In Mexico, abortion laws are made at the state level, and before this reform, across all of Mexico's states and in the Federal District (or Mexico City, the capital), abortion was permitted under very limited circumstances such as in cases of rape, fetal malformation, or when the survival or health of a woman was in danger. Even when abortions were legally permitted, however, numerous barriers made accessing a legal abortion extremely difficult. 3,4 Despite these barriers, abortion was commonly practiced. One study estimated the induced abortion rate in Mexico in 2006 to be 33 abortions per 1000 women aged 15 to 44 years, a comparatively high rate by global standards.5 However, because of the legal restrictions, the vast majority of abortions in Mexico took place clandestinely, often in unsafe circumstances, sometimes causing severe health consequences for...