Mexico: Reaffirming the global trend towards abortion reform

In a historic ruling on September 7, the Supreme Court of Mexico determined that laws outlawing abortion were unconstitutional abuses of women's rights.

According to Sydney Calkin, a gender and political geography specialist writing for The Conversation, Mexico is part of a "green wave" in Latin America that has also resulted in reforms in Argentina and Colombia, and this advance in abortion rights is seen throughout the world.

He said the United States, Poland, El Salvador, and Nicaragua—the four nations that have recently rolled back abortion rights—are global outliers. NGOs started a legal effort to overturn a state-level criminal abortion ban in Mexico after the country's supreme court overturned it in 2021.

Calkin argues that social movements frequently take advantage of years of grassroots effort to transform public perception of abortion when they succeed in bringing about changes in political institutions. Activists from Latin America refer to this approach as "social decriminalization." Its social standing can shift even in places with persistent criminal anti-abortion laws, claims Calkin.

Political elites may find themselves out of line with public sentiment when anti-abortion legislation loses public legitimacy, according to Calking. In 2018, when the Irish government put the abortion prohibition to a referendum, two-thirds of voters approved allowing legal abortion.

She contends that the global trend toward abortion reform is also significantly influenced by the expanding accessibility of self-managed abortion. When abortion is self-managed with pills, it becomes more accessible and safe outside of clinical settings and constrained environments, Calkin asserts.