Mexico

In Mexico, the Supreme Court declared in 2021 that abortion can no longer be considered a crime. Now no one can be jailed for having an abortion. While the ruling was specific to the state of Coahuila, which borders Texas, this law affects people across the country. Officials must abide by the ruling and update their laws accordingly. In addition, the court put limits on conscientious objection as a reason not to provide abortion services in government health facilities, making legal abortion easier to access.  And a recent wave of Mexican states have lifted local restrictions on abortion, and it is now legal in Mexico City, Oaxaca, Coahuila, Hidalgo, Veracruz, Colima, Baja California, Baja California Sur, and Guerrero. 

Planned Parenthood Global supports partners that provide sexual and reproductive health services, including innovations such as telehealth.   The country’s important legal shifts, along with the federal government approval of the safe abortion guidelines, is changing the abortion landscape in Mexico.  Mexican organizations all along the border are enabling access to abortion and other critical sexual and reproductive health care.  For example, Las Libres is a leading trusted provider of safe abortion information and access all across the country, and are expanding their support through in-person and telehealth care. 

For the past nine years, Planned Parenthood Global has supported local feminist groups, collectives, activists, and key organizations in the Yucatán peninsula to advocate for abortion rights, increase favorable media attention to educate and inform communities about sexual and reproductive rights, and launch several legal strategies to advance those rights, now bolstered by the Supreme Court ruling. Our partners are also creating a favorable environment for legal abortion by training civil servants in public institutions to ensure the Mexican Supreme Court’s mandate around conscientious objectors is applied.  

Planned Parenthood Global’s partners are also leveraging our regional campaign, Niñas, No Madres, to educate the public and motivate officials to implement the existing policies to ensure access to comprehensive care, including abortion. 

Next, we are working to expand our work with young activists from Mayan communities and with medical and legal leaders to help broaden support for abortion rights and access.