Mexico Supreme Court dismisses local abortion law

Mexico’s Supreme Court avoided taking up substantively the issue of abortion Wednesday by rejecting an injunction issued by a judge on technical grounds.

Anti-abortion groups celebrated the decision and feminist organizations criticized the court for using technicalities to dodge the issue.

In Mexico, abortion in the first 12 weeks of a pregnancy is allowed only in Mexico City and the southern state of Oaxaca.

But federal law allows abortion in situations where the woman was a victim of rape without establishing any time period to carry out the procedure.

The case before the Supreme Court judges centered on an injunction granted in Veracruz state that ordered the state legislature to remove articles from its criminal code that criminalized abortion and limited access to it in cases of rape.

Verónica Cruz, a lawyer and director of the nonprofit organization Las Libres said the case before the court was "not going to decriminalize abortion, nor declare unconstitutional abortion as a crime," but that Veracruz state lawmakers should legislate in line with a federal government recommendation in late 2017.

Abortion is only allowed in Mexico in the first 12 weeks of a pregnancy in Mexico City and the southern state of Oaxaca, but federal law allows abortion in situations where the woman was a victim of rape without establishing any time period to carry out the procedure.

Dissenting judge Juan Luis González Alcántara argued that current Veracruz law runs against the dignity and health of women and international conventions signed by Mexico.

"There is an immediate obligation to reform those norms that are discriminatory or are sources of violence against women," said.

"The court always sidesteps it," said Cruz. "When it doesn't want to resolve abortion, it always says there is a technical issue."