Fierce Backlash Has Followed Mexico City's Legalization of Abortion

The Nation: Mexico's Abortion Wars, American-Style, by Kathryn Smith:

After Mexico City liberalized its abortion law, a fierce backlash followed. Is its striking resemblance to the US “pro-life” movement a coincidence?

When Mexico City’s law changed in 2007, allowing elective abortions in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy, it was a substantial victory for reproductive rights advocates in a country, and a region, where the Catholic Church dominates daily life. Across Latin America, access to legal abortion is a rarity, and in 2007, all eyes turned to Mexico City to see how the experiment would play out—and whether it could be replicated. . . .

After decriminalization, however, a fierce backlash unfurled across Mexico. . . .