We will not allow the rollback of our rights

by Eugenia López Uribe, Regional Director at IPPF ACRO

Last week, deputies from Mexico’s right-wing political party Acción Nacional (PAN) approved an amendment to the penal code to limit access to abortion from 12 to 6 weeks. This is a grave violation of the principle of non-regression of human rights for women and people who have abortions. The Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN) has already established that the right to decide and access legal abortion are key components of reproductive autonomy and the right to privacy. 

Aguascalientes, a state in the Bajío region of Mexico, is known as a stronghold of anti-rights groups, and the PAN has governed there since 1998. The current governor, Teresa Jiménez, proposed this amendment to further restrict access to abortion and increase the criminalization of those who seek abortions. 

Since 2021, the Supreme Court has ruled that it is unconstitutional to criminalize abortion absolutely. It unanimously declared that restricting abortion violates the right of women and pregnant persons to decide about their own bodies. This marked the first time the Court issued a guideline to harmonize abortion legislation with its ruling. 

In 2023, following an injunction filed by local feminist organizations, the Court ruled that the Congress of Aguascalientes must eliminate the articles criminalizing abortion in the state. Ignoring the secular nature of the constitution, Governor Jiménez responded by declaring that “in her government… they are pro-life.” She criticized the fact that Aguascalientes’ deputies had to comply with the Court’s ruling to avoid administrative sanctions. 

A week ago, local legislators debated the governor’s initiative. With 19 votes in favor, they once again modified the penal code, reducing the time limit for abortion access from 12 to 6 weeks and narrowing the grounds on which abortion services could be requested. 

In their arguments, legislators claimed that “the laws established… should find a fair and reasonable balance” between the right to decide and the right to life. Misinterpreting the Supreme Court’s 2021 ruling, they set the 6-week limit, citing “the period in which it is possible to detect the heartbeat of the product.” 

The legislators also referenced a 2012  ruling, which stated that “there are no absolute human or fundamental rights.” They used this to justify restricting abortion, even though the 2021 Supreme Court ruling affirmed that abortion is key to reproductive autonomy and the right to privacy, and these are absolute rights that should take precedence over earlier interpretations. 

Let’s be clear: this reform, and the strategies of anti-rights groups, are a direct attack on the autonomy, rights, and freedom of individuals to decide about their own bodies and lives. These are attacks that should not be happening, especially in a country where Article 4 of the constitution guarantees the right of all people to decide when and how many children to have. Globally, these rights are supported by the Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Cairo Programme of Action, and the Beijing Platform for Action. 

Contrary to legislators’ claims, the “pro-life” or rather, anti-rights narrative, is one that constrains, limits, coerces, and punishes. This reform is further evidence of that. The imposition of a double medical screening process increases the risk of medical complications, unsafe procedures, and criminalization. Fear of prosecution can deter medical personnel from providing appropriate care, further exacerbating the vulnerability of those seeking abortions. 

At IPPF, we are proudly pro-abortion—proud to stand with the people, their choices, their dreams, and their futures. This is what it truly means to be pro-life: to support the right to health, the freedom to build the families we want, and to love who makes us feel whole.  

So how can we prevent what happened in Aguascalientes from being repeated in other states and across the region? The deputies in Aguascalientes exploited a legal vacuum because the Supreme Court did not clearly establish a minimum standard for abortion legislation. Abortion should be removed from penal codes and recognized as key part of absolute rights to health, to privacy, guaranteed to all people regardless of their circumstances. Otherwise, anti-rights groups and their conservative allies will continue to find loopholes to restrict access to abortion. 

No set of exceptions or time limits will be enough. We need to end the criminalization of abortion. It is time to move beyond exceptions and legal barriers, and to stop treating the lives and bodies of women and other identities who have abortions as matters to be governed by penal codes and laws. 

It is our needs, our realities, that should shape legislation, not the other way around. With one in four women having had an abortion, it is clear how the law should progress: toward the total decriminalization of abortion.