The Supreme Court and Debunking Abortion Myths
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A criminal complaint must be filed in order to access abortion when a pregnancy is the result of rape: FALSE
In 2013, the General Law on Victims (LGV, for its Spanish initials) was enacted. This law, which is in force throughout the country, established that victims of sexual violence have the right to access abortion and that their requests must be accepted in good faith (without suspicion that they are lying) when they seek the service on those grounds. Likewise, in 2016, through the amendment of Official Standard NOM-046-SSA2-2005 Family, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Criteria for Prevention and Care (NOM 046), it was established that filing a criminal complaint is not required in order to obtain an abortion when the pregnancy is the result of rape. Instead, it is sufficient to submit a written statement in which, under oath, a person declares that their pregnancy resulted from rape and that they wish to terminate it.
The SCJN has ruled on various cases accompanied by GIRE in which applicants were denied access to abortion services despite their pregnancies being the result of sexual violence. One such case is that of Fernanda, who in 2016 was 18 years old when she became pregnant as a result of rape. She submitted multiple requests for abortion services to health institutions in Oaxaca. In one instance, the gynecologist who treated Fernanda told her that abortion was a crime, despite the fact that abortion is legal throughout the country when a pregnancy results from sexual violence. She was later referred to a hospital that was on strike, where authorities told her that they could only provide emergency care and that her abortion did not qualify as such. Ultimately, Fernanda was forced to travel to Mexico City to terminate her pregnancy.
In this case, the SCJN determined that abortion is a right of victims of sexual violence and reaffirmed that denying access to medical abortion services in cases where a pregnancy results from sexual violence constitutes a violation of human rights, specifically the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. Likewise, the Court established that cases in which a woman who is a victim of sexual violence requests the termination of her pregnancy must be considered urgent. Thus, health authorities are obligated to respond to such requests efficiently and immediately, in order to prevent the physical and psychological consequences of violence from continuing over time.
