SW News: In what is seen as a setback to pro-lifers in Mexico, the Supreme Court of the Latin American country on Wednesday struck down a federal law that outlawed abortion. By doing so, the top court reaffirmed an earlier verdict which said that criminal penalties for terminating a pregnancy were unconstitutional.

The new verdict will now permit the federal healthcare system to provide abortions. Although the apex court of Mexico consisting of 11 justices ruled that criminal charges for terminating a pregnancy were unconstitutional in 2021, it was only applicable in the state of Coahuila from where the lawsuit originated.
The country where Roman Catholicism is the predominant faith will now witness enhanced access to abortion, which is considered a morally evil act by the Church.

This comes as the latest judicial intervention in Latin America where various attempts to legalize abortion have been made recently. On the other hand, neighboring United States struck down the right to undergo an abortion last year and several states enacted laws to protect the unborn.

The Mexican Supreme Court verdict has been hailed by pro-choice groups. "We wouldn't have this ruling if we didn't have the Coahuila one two years ago, but I would say that the one today has more reach, definitely in terms of access to abortion," said Isabel Fulda, deputy director of the Information Group on Reproductive Choice (GIRE), which filed the lawsuit against the federal penal code.

The court took sides with GIRE and said the section dealing with the criminalization of abortion was no longer valid. In a tweet, the court said that a particular section of the federal penal code was unconstitutional and violated the rights of those who cannot have babies.

Ever since the top court decriminalized abortion in 2021, the 32 Mexican states have been sluggish in repealing their laws accordingly. Last month Aguascalientes became the 12th state to decriminalize the termination of pregnancy.