While the U.S. seems absolutely determined to regress all the way back to the Dark Ages, small signs of progress are being made elsewhere in the world.
Today, Mexico City legislators voted to legalize abortion. The bill was passed by a margin of 46-19 and is expected to be signed into law by the city’s liberal mayor.
Though certainly not a perfect law– it only allows for abortion during the first trimester, and girls under the age of 18 need parental consent– it is certainly a sign for hope. There is currently a large-scale debate taking place in Mexico over attempts to legalize abortion throughout the country. The Catholic Church is getting heavily involved and trying to thwart the efforts by liberals. In fact, they’re suing to try to overturn the new Mexico City law. Fortunately, though, Mexico City apparently holds an influence over the rest of the country and often affects national policy. So I think that it’s great for them to have taken the initiative here. With any luck, women south of the border will soon have the right to control their own bodies. Kudos to everyone there who is fighting this important battle.
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I wonder how much of this was an economic decision. It seems clear that if more U.S. states make abortions difficult to obtain, women will go to Mexico. Not to mention South American and other Central American countries.
I’d like to think that it wasn’t an economic decision, but there are a multitude of reasons to legalize abortion anywhere. It is an economic issue as well as a human rights and public health issue. It’s just plain good social policy– the fewer unwanted children there are, there’s less strain on the economy to provide for them, less child abuse, lower crime, a lesser strain on public service. All of these things are related, which is something that most people ignore.
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