Although 2024 brought us national and regional victories for the Green Tide, the road to overcoming the criminalization of abortion remains challenging. Despite this progress, the barriers and stigmas associated with reproductive rights for women and people with the capacity to become pregnant persist in Mexico.
For these reasons, in 2025 we must stand united and secure the progress we have made in reproductive justice over the years. We can do this by working together and collectively in the Green Tide, by taking a comprehensive care approach in our strategies, and by reshaping the abortion narrative to see it as a right of choice and as a health service.
We are happy to share some good news! On 24 January 2025, the Congress of the state of Nayarit approved the decriminalization of abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, with 17 votes in favor and two against.
As you may recall, on 1 August 2024, the Second Collegiate Criminal Court of the Twenty-Fourth Circuit ruled in favor of the amparo filed by GIRE, Redefine Nayarit and Aquelarre Púrpura against the Penal Code of Nayarit. The judicial resolution ordered the removal from the law of the articles that prohibit elective and self-induced abortions. This reform complies with the resolution.
On 30 January 2025, the Mexican Supreme Court reviewed the Action of Unconstitutionality 1/2024 and annulled several articles that continue to criminalize elective abortion in the Penal Code of Chihuahua.
The Green Tide continues rising in 2025. There are now 20 states in favor of reproductive autonomy! We continue to work to guarantee access to legal and safe abortion throughout Mexico.
On 21st January, Verónica Esparza, GIRE’s Research Coordinator, and I, Rebecca Ramos, presented Paso a paso: Decisiones emblemáticas sobre salud reproductiva (Step by Step: Rulings on reproductive health, in English) at El Colegio de México. In these presentations we discussed these editorial materials with professors Sara Luna and Nathaly Llane. The materials reflect the legislative process and the applicability of the laws.
Paso a Paso explains, in a simple language, eight resolutions issued by the Mexican Supreme Court and other international organizations on the topics of obstetric violence and assisted human reproduction topics. You can consult the book in Spanish here.
SOURCE: GIRE’s Newsletter: The Green Tide Rises, 19 February 2025