Decriminalized abortion

For now, lifted directly from Latin America Daily Briefing. My comments later on.

Mexican court decriminalizes abortion
Mexico’s Supreme Court decriminalized abortion yesterday, in a landmark ruling that struck down a Coahuila state law that imposed up to three years of prison for women who underwent illegal abortions or those who aided them. The ruling, which determined that criminalization of abortion unconstitutional, is binding on other states. Under Mexican law, a supreme court ruling supported by at least eight justices supersedes state laws. Yesterday’s ruling was unanimously supported by 10 justices. (Animal Político)
The decision does not automatically make abortion legal across Mexico, experts said, but it does set a binding precedent for judges across the country, reports the New York Times. Abortion is legal in four of Mexico’s 32 federal entities — Oaxaca, Veracruz, Hidalgo and Mexico City.

“Today is a watershed in the history of the rights of women and pregnant people, above all the most vulnerable,” Chief Justice Arturo Zaldívar said. “The unjust criminalization of women ends with one stroke. Never again a woman in prison for exercising her rights.”
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador did not immediately comment yesterday. He has had a conflictive relationship with women’s rights activists since taking office.
The decision reflects the growing power of Mexico’s feminist movement, and will impact the womens rights agenda in Latin America, reports the Washington Post. Victories in one country often catalyze activist efforts in others, as occurred with Argentina’s abortion legalization campaign, which succeeded in December of last year. In Mexico, as in the rest of the region, activists have linked demands for abortion legalization with protests against gender-based violence.
“Mexico’s decision represents a turning point that Latin America and the Caribbean are making in recognizing women’s rights to abortion as a matter of fundamental rights and reproductive rights,” said Brazilian women’s rights activist Debora Diniz who presented an abortion case that Brazil’s Supreme Court is set to rule on soon. (Wall Street Journal)