An offshoot of the March for Life that began in the United States in 1974, Mexico’s March for Life started in the capital city in 2012 and was organized by national pro-life organization Pasos Por La Vida (Steps for Life). The crowds have grown each year, with 20,000 marchers in 2018 according to the official March for Life Mexico City video. The 2018 video shows young and old marchers praying, smiling, singing, chanting, and dancing their way through the city. Previous Marches were promoted by Mexican actor Eduardo Verastegui, star of the hit pro-life film Bella.
This year, the eighth annual Marcha Por La Vida (March for Life) will be Saturday, May 18, and marchers will walk nearly one and a half miles, starting at the Monument to Motherhood and ending at the Mexico City Legislative Assembly. This will be the first year that the March is jointly organized by pro-life youth organizations Juventud Pro Vida(JUVI)(Pro Life Youth) and Pasos Por La Vida (Steps Through Life).
Manu Rodriguez is a member of JUVI helping to organize the 2019 March. He told Live Action News that, for those considering marching for the first time, “Today, more than ever before, it is vital to stand up for those who are defenseless, because we cannot allow the innocent to be cruelly slaughtered.”
Abortion up through 12 weeks in Mexico City for any reason was legalized in 2007. Abortion is legal in all 32 states in cases of rape. Other exceptions vary by state and include the mother’s life being in danger, the mother’s health being impacted, the baby having a genetic or other physical abnormality, and the mother getting pregnant because of “imprudential” behavior. While the Mexican people themselves are undoubtedly pro-life, politicians and international organizations like Marie Stopes International, which runs several abortion facilities in Mexico City, have aggressively pushed for the expansion of abortion in the country. In February of this year, legislation to modify the constitution and legalize abortion throughout the entire country was tabled after vigorous pro-life opposition.
READ: Media silent as thousands of pro-lifers rally at UK March for Life in London
A landmark 2015 study conducted in Mexico and published in the British Medical Journal specifically assessed whether more permissive abortion laws (as in 14 of Mexico’s states) lead to lower maternal mortality rates. The study suggested that states with more permissive abortion laws also had lower maternal mortality, but these same states also had, according to the Population Research Institute, better…
- access to prenatal care and professional delivery care in maternal health care facilities
- numbers of and access to emergency obstetric units
- specialized diagnostic centers and prenatal care for high-risk pregnancies
- pre-conception counseling and family planning to promote healthy pregnancies before age 35, and to prevent unintended pregnancies in vulnerable groups
- public policies aimed at increasing the level of education among women
- detection of violence against pregnant women during prenatal care and by providing intervention in domestic violence cases
- access to clean drinking water and proper sanitation
Visit Pasos Por la Vida for more information.
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