Background Briefing: September 8, 2021
Mexico’s Supreme Court Decriminalizes Abortion While SCOTUS Does the Opposite
We begin with the stark contrast between the Mexican Supreme Court which ruled on Tuesday that it is unconstitutional to punish abortion, removing penalties against women who have had them in the border state of Coahuila, while across the border in Texas, the opposite is happening thanks to the reactionary U.S. Supreme Court. Joining us is Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, a Professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University whose research focuses on Mexico-U.S. relations. The President of the Association for Borderlands Studies and a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, her latest book is Los Zetas Inc.: Criminal Corporations, Energy, and Civil War in Mexico and we discuss how for now the court’s decision which decriminalizes but not legalizes abortion applies only to the northern state of Coahuila. But the Mexican Supreme Court’s ruling in a very Catholic country sets a legal precedent for the nation and anti-abortion activists have already begun work to force 28 states to revise their laws since only Mexico City and three other states allow abortions on request.
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