Breathe
By Frida Mendoza
2024 was a very busy year. If we stop for a second and think about it, there was no calm month or day in the news, and in terms of human rights we have been extremely alert.
But if we can talk about something positive, it is the progress of the Green Tide in the country and during this year eight states approved the legal termination of pregnancy: Nayarit, Jalisco, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas, State of Mexico, Morelos, Puebla, Chiapas and Yucatan.
Suddenly, on important dates in the feminist struggle and for women's rights, activists, together with associations and collectives of lawyers announced, celebrated and embraced each other in local congresses with green handkerchiefs in hand because their states approved the repeal of the crime of abortion from their penal codes and that never again will women be imprisoned for exercising their free right to decide about their own bodies. Exciting, no doubt.
I think of the many women who had to travel to have an abortion, of those who sought support from other women, of those who struggled to get misoprostol, who cried in solitude, others who could not dare and who now encourage others to say: my body, my decision. It is moving to think of future generations where deciding is not a struggle.
However, nothing is set in stone and there are many, many challenges I would like to write about:
1. Three states have yet to repeal the crime of abortion from the Penal Code: Nayarit, State of Mexico and Yucatan.
2. Aguascalientes took a fatal step backwards after the local Congress reduced the number of weeks to access the legal termination of pregnancy to six and therefore practically nullifies the right, since usually many women and people with gestational capacity become aware of a possible pregnancy after this period. It should be noted that this setback was promoted by Governor Teresa Jimenez, reversing the instruction of the Supreme Court.
3. The total decriminalization of the crime of abortion in Mexico City has not yet been discussed in the local Congress.
4. What's next for the United States with the arrival of Donald Trump (recall that his first presidency was crucial to the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that guaranteed abortion rights nationwide).
All these events, three national and one international, are crucial and intertwined. Why? Because unfortunately they are a sign that we have not earned our rights, because the ultra-right and anti-rights movements are gaining strength and should not be taken lightly. Because everything can be reversed.
The eyes of activists, women and anyone interested in reproductive rights must be alert. It is necessary to make sure that the entities that have decriminalized abortion truly guarantee access to this service, that the entities that have yet to repeal the crime do so soon, that it is decriminalized in its entirety because in the CDMX there are still people detained for the crime of abortion. Also, remember that the anti-rights movements seek inspiration from the Americans and Milei's Argentina is an example.
As journalists we must also be attentive to these movements, to communicate it properly, to think that guaranteeing a right does not mean forcing everyone to have an abortion or that it becomes a "new contraceptive method", enough of reproducing myths or illustrating abortion notes with pregnant women. And also remember that transgender men and non-binary people have sex lives and can have abortions, talking about it with them is also covering the whole trail of a topic that should not be taboo.
Undoubtedly, 2025 is coming on strong, but ensuring accurate information and being vigilant for our rights could make a difference.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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