Abortion Battles in Mexico and Beyond
The Role of Law and the Courts
Couldn’t join us for the event? Check out some of the speakers’ blog posts!
Description
Battles over sexual and reproductive health and rights, particularly abortion rights, are occurring around the world. Mexico has witnessed heated political and legal mobilization by both progressive and conservative forces regarding the issue of abortion in recent years. In 2007, Mexico City decriminalized abortion in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy. The Supreme Court of Justice of Mexico subsequently upheld that law’s constitutionality, triggering a series of state laws imposing draconian restrictions on abortion. Although abortion in cases of rape had been defined as an “emergency medical service” under federal legislation, women and girls found it difficult in practice to obtain services. In May of this year, the Supreme Court of Justice of Mexico issued two important decisions relating to cases of adolescents who had been raped, clarifying that denial of abortions in cases of sexual assault violated both international human rights law and the Mexican Constitution.
This event brought together two sitting justices on the Mexican Supreme Court, Justice Gutiérrez Ortiz Mena and Justice González Alcántara, to discuss the holdings, implications, and context for these recent decisions, as well the Court’s evolving role in the area of sexual and reproductive health and rights, and in particular abortion. To situate the discussion, two other panels discussed:
Read the 2019 decision of the First Chamber of the Mexican Supreme Court of Justice relating to abortion: “Corte Suprema de Justicia de México [Mexican Supreme Court of Justice], May 15, 2019, “Motion for Constitutional Relief under Amparo Proceedings in Review 1388/2015.”
This event was free and open to the public.
Agenda
8:30 – 9:00am, Registration
9:00 – 9:15am, Welcome and Introductions
9:15 – 9:35am, Keynote Address
- Justice González Alcántara, Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, Mexico
9:35 – 9:55am, Keynote Address
- Justice Gutiérrez Ortiz Mena, Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, Mexico
9:55 – 10:15am, Audience Q & A
10:15 – 10:30am, Break
10:30 – 11:25am, Adjudicating Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
11:25am – 12:25pm, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Challenging Contexts: Laws, Policies, Practices
12:25 – 12:30pm, Closing Remarks
Learn More
Blog Posts
- Adriana Ortega Ortiz, “How to understand the Mexican Supreme Court Decision Regarding Abortion Based on Health Risks”
- David García Sarubbi, “The Fundamental Right to Health and Judicial Review in México”
- Patricia del Arenal Urueta, “Amparo en Revisión 1388/2015 and the “Rights” Discourse in Mexico”
Part of the Global Health and Rights Project (GHRP), a collaboration between the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School and the Global Health Education and Learning Incubator (GHELI) at Harvard University, with support from the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School and the Oswald DeN. Cammann Fund at Harvard University.