Questions about abortion

Does the Decriminalization of Abortion Depend on Public Opinion?

The recognition and protection of human rights are not concessions granted by the state and therefore should not be subject to public consultations. It is not necessary for there to be consensus on these matters, nor are they issues that can be overridden by the will of a majority. Public norms, adopted through democratic processes, must respond to the needs of the population; however, this does not include the legal recognition of social paradigms that violate human rights. Although majority consensus is not required, public perceptions of abortion in Mexico are currently favorable—a reality which has contributed to more federal entities moving toward decriminalization.

Public perception of this issue has changed significantly. While in March 2007 (one month before the decriminalization of abortion in Mexico City) 65.8 percent of people in the country believed that abortion should be considered a crime, by October 2019 (after decriminalization in Oaxaca) that figure had dropped to 38.4 percent, and declined further to 28.1 percent by July 2022. Additionally, 6 out of 10 people disagree with punishing women who have an abortion; 8 out of 10 support laws that allow abortion in some or all circumstances (including 81% of Catholics, 64% of Evangelicals, and 97% of people with no religious affiliation); and 3 out of 4 people agree that legal abortion has positive impacts.

This reveals that public opinion on controversial issues such as abortion is not fixed and immutable, but depends, among other things, on the prejudices surrounding it, how it is handled in the media, and access to information and health services to perform legal abortions. Therefore, health regulation, in conjunction with the total decriminalization of abortion, plays a crucial role in ensuring that women and other pregnant people have access to health services, as well as in promoting social decriminalization, which contributes to eliminating the stigma surrounding this practice.

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