Breathe
By Natalí Hernández
And before the sentence was finished, outside the Congress of the State of Puebla, green handkerchiefs were already being waved with all the energy and contained euphoria of so many years of struggle.
July 15, 2024, should be remembered as a historic milestone for the struggle for reproductive autonomy in Puebla. This day, the LXI legislature of the H. Congress of the State of Puebla, consolidated 29 votes in favor of the reforms to the Penal Code of the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, from its publication, Article 339 will describe "abortion as the termination of pregnancy after the twelfth week of gestation".
The screams, cries, joy and emotion were not long in coming. Puebla has had endless efforts in the fight for the decriminalization of abortion, including demonstrations, forums, the peaceful takeover of the Congress facilities, an open parliament with more than 100 participants debating the issue, dialogues with decision makers and even an injunction won in 2023 by civil society organizations, which allowed safe abortion services up to 12.6 weeks in 3 hospitals.
Undoubtedly, this is a victory for the feminist movement in Puebla and for all the women and people who have been fighting this struggle for decades, for all those who paved the way when no one wanted to talk about abortion, for those who had to face the stigma of leading this cause, for those who continued to fight for access to legal abortion and for those who joined with their green handkerchiefs to make a green tide in Puebla.
The decriminalization of abortion in Puebla settles a part of the debt that the State has with all the women of Puebla who for years had to have abortions in secrecy, in silence, with fear or guilt, undergoing unsafe procedures and also for those who were criminalized and persecuted for this decision. From now on, women and people with gestational capacity who decide to terminate their pregnancies will know that they can decide with accurate information, in freedom and that they will be able to count on a safe service.
The legislators who voted in favor of this initiative supported a just cause and generated an emblematic advance in the defense of the human rights of women, girls and people with gestational capacity in Puebla.
Despite its reputation as a conservative capital, on this day Puebla is committed to the consolidation of a secular state that guarantees the protection of human rights, offering hope to those territories where the decriminalization of abortion is not yet a reality.
For now, we celebrate, recharge our energy and continue working to make access in the 217 municipalities of the state a reality. Now yes, in Puebla we have cemitas, chile en nogada and legal abortion.
*Natalí Hernández Arias is the director of the Centro de Análisis, Formación e Iniciativa Social (CAFIS A.C.), an organization she co-founded and continues to work as a specialist consultant for various institutions and projects.
She has a degree in psychology with training in gender issues, human rights and attention to gender violence. She has a master's degree in communication and social change and for the last 20 years, she has had countless experiences with local, national and international institutions, as well as awards and recognitions to her trajectory.
Traversed by the feminist work, she works to build tools that allow her to navigate the complications of life, insists on squeezing the errors and contradictions to devise more ethical and loving ways to walk in community.
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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