![\"Ilustraci\u00f3n](\"https:\/\/abortomexico.gire.org.mx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/12_Avance_de_la_Marea_Verde_03.gif\")
Last updated: April 30, 2026<\/p>\nLast updated: April 30, 2026<\/p>\n
The origins of the Green Wave can be traced to Argentina beginning in 1983, the year the country\u2019s last civic-military dictatorship came to an end and Argentina began its transition to democracy. The movement began to take shape in 1986, when the National Women\u2019s Meetings set up a feminist organization with its own political agenda, which included the fight for legal abortion.[1]<\/span> In 2005, the National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe, and Free-of-Charge Abortion Care marked a turning point by focusing on advancing legislative bills and advocacy strategies. In 2015, the involvement of the Ni Una Menos movement further strengthened mobilization and helped bring together different feminist agendas around shared demands. After years of activism, the Green Wave crystallized in 2018 as a movement that transcended national borders and transformed the movement\u2019s green bandana into a regional symbol of resistance and social justice. This bandana drew inspiration from the struggle of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, who since 1977 have worn white headscarves while demanding justice for their disappeared children during the dictatorship. The green bandana inherited this tradition of human rights advocacy, becoming both an icon of the feminist struggle for the right to decide and a symbol of unity across Latin America.[2]<\/span><\/p>\n In 2018, during the three months in which abortion decriminalization was debated in Argentina through a series of public sessions held in the national Congress, the Green Wave gained significant momentum. Alongside the legislative debate, an unprecedented social mobilization occupied the streets, and the use of the green bandana spread in mass demonstrations. Over time, the movement came to encompass demands in favor of abortion rights, sexual diversity, and an end to gender-based violence, and alliances were forged among feminist, social, political, and academic organizations to work collectively toward public awareness and legislative advocacy. As the emblem of the National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe, and Free-of- Charge Abortion Care, the green bandana positioned the movement as a leading force for social and political transformation in support of abortion rights. The badge came to represent both the struggle for reproductive rights, abortion decriminalization, and justice, as well as resistance to sexist violence, femicide, and human rights violations.[3]<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In Mexico, the movement to decriminalize abortion dates back to 1930. Since 1931, abortion has been permitted nationwide in cases of pregnancies resulting from rape. Over time, the criminal codes of the states were amended to add additional grounds under which abortion was legally permitted. By 2000, 28 federal entities recognized risk to a pregnant woman\u2019s life as legal grounds for abortion.[4]<\/span><\/p>\n It was not until April 2007 that a local congress\u2014the Legislative Assembly of the Federal District, now Mexico City\u2014decriminalized voluntary abortion during the first 12.6 weeks of pregnancy. This progress entailed significant challenges. In May 2007, the President of the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH, for its Spanish initials) and the head of the then Office of the Federal Attorney General (PGR) filed actions of unconstitutionality challenging the reform before the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN). This was the first time that the highest court in a Latin American country was required to determine whether abortion should cease to be classified as a crime during the first 12.6 weeks of gestation.<\/p>\n In its rulings in Action of Unconstitutionality 146\/2007 and its consolidated case 147\/2007, the Court, sitting in plenary session, held that the decriminalization of abortion in the Federal District was constitutional. It found that the reform did not violate the human right to life and concluded that the right to life is not absolute. The Court further observed that neither the Constitution, nor any international treaty, nor any authoritative interpretation of those instruments defined when life begins, much less recognized that life must be protected from the moment of conception.<\/p>\n Between 2018 and 2019, the SCJN reviewed cases in which abortion care had been denied on grounds such as rape or risk to the health of the pregnant person.[5]<\/span> By that time, the Green Wave that had emerged in Argentina had already inspired thousands to march and demonstrate throughout Latin America. In Mexico, the green bandana became a symbol used to expose the restrictions that also existed in the country regarding the exercise of reproductive rights,[6]<\/span> and many feminists increasingly adopted the green bandana in public demonstrations to advocate for the legalization of safe and free-of-charge abortion care.<\/p>\n In 2019, twelve years after partial decriminalization in Mexico City, Oaxaca became the first state to enact a similar legislative reform, driven by Green Wave activism. In 2021, Hidalgo and Veracruz followed the same route, through judicial rulings. The influence of the Green Wave also reached the judiciary when the SCJN ruled on another case concerning voluntary abortion in Action of Unconstitutionality 148\/2017, which dealt with the Criminal Code of Coahuila. Since then, the decriminalization of abortion has made steady progress across the country.<\/p>\n The Coahuila ruling was issued on September 7, 2021, marking a milestone in the struggle for reproductive justice in Mexico. The Court, sitting in plenary session, unanimously recognized that the right of women and pregnant people to decide is a constitutional principle that stems from reproductive autonomy. By declaring unconstitutional the provisions of the Criminal Code of Coahuila that criminalized abortion without exception, the SCJN established that criminal law is not the appropriate means to regulate reproductive health. It further held that criminalizing abortion without exception violates the reproductive rights of women and other pregnant people.[7]<\/span><\/p>\n Following the SCJN\u2019s ruling in the Coahuila case, partial decriminalization gradually advanced in other states: Baja California and Colima partially decriminalized abortion in 2021, followed by Sinaloa, Guerrero, Baja California Sur, and Quintana Roo in 2022. However, the process eventually lost momentum, creating uncertainty as to whether it would continue or stall.<\/p>\n In response, beginning in 2022, GIRE, in collaboration with local organizations, implemented a nationwide legal strategy aimed at filing constitutional protection lawsuits (amparos) challenging the criminal codes of the 21 states in which abortion remained criminalized without exception at that time: Aguascalientes, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Durango, Guanajuato, Jalisco, State of Mexico, Michoac\u00e1n, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo Le\u00f3n, Puebla, Quer\u00e9taro, San Luis Potos\u00ed, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Yucat\u00e1n y Zacatecas; as well as the Federal Criminal Code.<\/p>\n The tireless collective efforts of the feminist movement, together with the legal strategy advanced by GIRE, have resulted in voluntary abortion now being legal in two-thirds of Mexico\u2019s federal entities, at least during the first twelve weeks of pregnancy. In light of the continued advance of the Green Wave, this section of the Abortion in Origami site serves as a reference tool tracing the path toward abortion decriminalization throughout Mexico.<\/p>\n As of April 2026, abortion has been decriminalized, at least during the first trimester of pregnancy, in the following entities: Mexico City (2007); Oaxaca (2019); Hidalgo (2021); Veracruz (2021); Coahuila (2021); Baja California (2021); Colima (2021); Sinaloa (2022); Guerrero (2022); Baja California Sur (2022); Quintana Roo (2022); Puebla (2024); Jalisco (2024); Michoac\u00e1n (2024); San Luis Potos\u00ed (2024); Zacatecas (2024); State of Mexico (2024); Chiapas (2024); Nayarit (2025); Chihuahua (2025); Campeche (2025), Yucat\u00e1n (2025), Tabasco (2025), and Tlaxcala (2025). In the interactive map of Mexico below, these entities are highlighted in green.<\/p>\n By contrast, when clicking on federal entities in which abortion was decriminalized by means of a judicial ruling\u2014issued by a federal district court, a federal collegiate circuit court, or the SCJN\u2014the site displays the key elements of the ruling and its legal effects, and users may download the public version of the decision. In cases where the federal entity\u2019s criminal code has already been amended, the site indicates compliance with the relevant judicial order and provides a comparative table showing the provisions before and after decriminalization. This makes it possible to track the progress of the strategy advanced by GIRE and local organizations.<\/p>\n The map highlights in brown the federal entities whose legislatures have not yet amended their criminal codes on abortion, despite the existence of a judicial order requiring the repeal or modification of those provisions. States that have not yet decriminalized abortion are shown in pink. As an exception, Aguascalientes appears in orange, as it is the only federal entity in which the local legislature restricted the window of time in which abortion can legally take place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last updated: April 30, 2026 The origins of the Green Wave can be traced to Argentina beginning in 1983, the year the country\u2019s last civic-military dictatorship came to an end and Argentina began its transition to democracy. The movement began to take shape in 1986, when the National Women\u2019s Meetings set up a feminist organization […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/marea-full.php","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4266","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Ilustraci\u00f3n](\"https:\/\/abortomexico.gire.org.mx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/elementos_panuelo.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Ilustraci\u00f3n](\"https:\/\/abortomexico.gire.org.mx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/12_marea_verde_01.png\")
The SCJN\u2019s decision shielded the decriminalization of abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy. Moreover, by upholding the constitutionality of the reform, the Court sent a message to legislators across the country that they could decide to amend their criminal codes in terms equal or similar to those adopted in the Federal District. Although the Court\u2019s prior abortion- related decisions had not analyzed these issues from a reproductive rights perspective, the decriminalization of abortion during the first 12.6 weeks of pregnancy in the Federal District had significant historical relevance, which endures to this day.<\/p>\n![\"Ilustraci\u00f3n](\"https:\/\/abortomexico.gire.org.mx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/12_marea_verde_02-.png\")
This decision not only decriminalized abortion in Coahuila but also set clear precedents for the decriminalization of voluntary abortion nationwide and strengthened the broader struggle for reproductive rights. The criteria it adopted constitute a constitutional review standard in this area, i.e., a set of minimum benchmarks that judges must observe and that abortion-related provisions must satisfy in the context of decriminalization. This ensures that the right of women and people with the capacity to gestate to decide, as well as their other human rights, are not infringed.<\/p>\n![\"Ilustraci\u00f3n](\"https:\/\/abortomexico.gire.org.mx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/12_Avance_de_la_Marea_Verde_04-1.gif\")
When clicking on federal entities in which decriminalization occurred solely through judicial rulings\u2014by amendment of the criminal code following an initiative introduced by local legislators\u2014the site displays the date on which the reform was approved, the date of its publication in the entity\u2019s official gazette, and a comparative table showing the criminal code provisions on abortion before and after the reform. In some federal entities, the site also includes information on amendments to the local health law governing the provision of abortion care. It is important to note that not all federal entities have adopted this type of amendment, and their absence should not constitute a barrier to accessing abortion, as these laws and programs facilitate service provision but are not mandatory.<\/p>\n