Ignoring Evidence, Mexican States Move to Increase Abortion Restrictions

By Sharon Camp and Fatima Juarez, Guttmacher Institute. Posted March 24, 2009.

Restricting abortion access does not make abortion less common -- it results in more women dying from clandestine and unsafe procedures.

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On March 12 lawmakers in Puebla, Mexico, voted to amend the state’s constitution to recognize a "right to life" that begins at conception. Puebla is not the first Mexican state to adopt such a provision -- Colima, Baja California, Sonora, and Morelos have all recently passed similar legislation. The trend among Mexican states to reinforce what are already strict restrictions on abortion access comes in reaction to Mexico City’s groundbreaking 2007 policy to legalize abortion in the Federal District of Mexico during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Challenged by abortion rights opponents, the law was recently upheld by Mexico’s Supreme Court.

This new spate of state-level laws further restricts Mexican women's already limited access to legal abortion. Worse, there is evidence that women are being denied abortion care even when they meet the strict criteria for a legal procedure. Human Rights Watch recently reported that in Guanajuato, where abortion is outlawed except in the case of rape, rape survivors are routinely denied access to the procedure.

These policies not only demonstrate a shocking lack of compassion, they also directly contradict strong evidence from Mexico and other parts of the world that restricting abortion access does not make abortion less common -- it just results in more women dying or being injured by clandestine and unsafe procedures.

Case in point: Despite highly restrictive policies, the number of abortions performed in Mexico increased by one-third (from 533,000 to 875,000) between 1990 and 2006, according to a new study conducted by El Colegio de Mexico, the Population Council Mexico Office and the Guttmacher Institute.

Mexico’s abortion rate of 33 procedures per 1,000 women aged 15–44, is more than 40% higher than the rate in the United States (19 per 1,000 women), even though the procedure is broadly legal in the United States.

Safety is another key difference between the two countries. Fewer than 0.3% of abortion patients in the United States have complications requiring hospitalization. In stark contrast, 17% of Mexican women who obtained abortions in 2006 required treatment in public hospitals for complications.

This comparison is not unique to North America. A worldwide study conducted by the Guttmacher Institute and the World Health Organization found that abortion rates tend to be lowest where the procedure is broadly legal and contraceptives are widely available and used. Moreover, abortion rates are roughly equal in regions where abortion is legal to those where it isn't. The only difference, once again, is that the procedure is very safe in countries where abortion is legal and often unsafe in countries where it is highly restricted.

Worldwide, almost all abortions are the result of unintended pregnancies. If Mexican policymakers are concerned about reducing the need for abortion and safeguarding women’s health, they should heed the strong evidence and focus on policies that promote prevention.

This means acknowledging Mexican women’s increased desire to have smaller families by expanding access to contraceptives and promoting their use. It means supporting comprehensive sex education for young people to prepare them for life before they become sexually active. And it means ending abortion restrictions that do nothing to lower the incidence of abortion and only serve to endanger women’s lives. Mexican women deserve no less.

See more stories tagged with: gender, abortion, sexism, reproductive rights, mexico

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Unfairness is political [Report this comment] Posted by: politicky on Mar 24, 2009 7:16 PM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] "Mexican women deserve no less." Exactly. Will the elites in Mexico AND the US listen or are they terrified that their cheap labor will dry up for their great-grandchildren's trust funds? [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Hey, where are all the "they breed too much" yahoos? [Report this comment] Posted by: Bliss Doubt on Mar 25, 2009 7:10 AM Current rating: 3 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Nothing to say about this, I'll wager. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] The Mexican government simply doesn't care [Report this comment] Posted by: Beadmaster on Mar 25, 2009 11:18 AM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Women dying of unsafe, unsanitary practices? When is anyone going to get it that the Mexican government simply does not care? The more women who die in this fashion, the fewer people to take care of. Not that the Mexican government has been a stellar example of taking care of its citizens, anyway. Instead of the wealthy Mexican politicians forfeiting some of their ill-begotten gains to, gasp, help their people in dire need, the government has turned a blind eye instead. Poverty? Who cares! Send them to America, force them to work for pennies on the dollar -- and give them a handy-dandy little comic book to tell them how to survive the trip, though you must neglect to mention the "coyotes," the human excrement who feel free to perpetrate the obligatory rape on every female who crosses the border. Out of sight, out of mind. NIMBY. When will they (and we) get it that this is a recipe for disaster? The more people, the less funds to support them. We are experiencing this right now, with regard to our struggling economy. This is why many Americans can't find jobs, because there are just too many of us, on top of the fact that a lot of our jobs are being outsourced to places overseas, and the remainder of many jobs here are given preferentially to illegal immigrants, because they work for less and accept poor working conditions. And then on top of that, we also carry the burden by handing out welfare for any babies born to illegal immigrants here in the US, because we're not struggling enough to help those "in need." But all of our biggest money then goes to the wealthy bankers as part of our "bailout," because God forbid they shouldn't be entitled to live the lifestyle to which they've become accustomed. Forgetting about the disastrous environmental implications of too many people, we do not have the jobs to support so many -- in this country or any other. I feel bad for the generations growing up today, because they will have the burden of few jobs and ever larger numbers of people vying for them. Birth control and abortion are key to keeping everyone in every country financially solvent. Plus, the more people's choices are closely controlled, the more the government wins. We had a taste of that with Bush, who did as much as he could to curb our own abortion rights. Mexico doing the same would be a harbinger of things to come, had Bush succeeded in completely eradicating women's rights to abortion. And it should be taken very, very seriously, as a warning of why we should not continue to follow that path here. The difference is this: in Mexico, nobody is supporting these children. They want them born, but like any fundiwacks here, once they're born, they don't really give a damn what happens to the children. Nor do they care about the burden this places on the parent(s). A woman who is raped and can't support a child has a better chance of not surviving herself, and without a hand up from the Mexican government, not only will she have a minuscule chance of survival, but so will that "precious child" the government ensured would be born. When the rights of the unborn are considered greater than the rights of those who are already here, we have crumbled to anarchy. Literally, we are being ruled by groups of undeveloped cells who cannot speak or make rational decisions. Would people rather be ruled by a cool-headed leader who has the maturity to understand the world, or would we rather be ruled by a bunch of cells? How far are we willing to take this? Do we want to turn a blind eye to what is happening in Mexico right now, or will we learn without having to do this ourselves? [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] I feel disgusted at the way the Mexican women are mistreated both in Mexico and the US. [Report this comment] Posted by: JenniferBedingfield on Mar 26, 2009 1:23 PM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] This article is enough to put me in tears. I beg the lord to please have mercy on the Mexican women suffering like this. They don't deserve this kind of heartbreaking cruelty. :.( [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

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