Lawmakers in Mexico’s state of Veracruz have voted to decriminalize abortion, becoming the fourth state in the nation to do so.
The 25-13 vote will allow abortion for any reason up to 12 weeks of pregnancy (from last menstrual period, LMP, or 10 weeks post-fertilization), which is the first trimester. It also allows a preborn child to be aborted at any point in pregnancy if that child was conceived as a result of a sexual assault. Just one year ago, Mexico’s Supreme Court dismissed a bill that would have forced the Veracruz Congress to modify its local Penal Code to decriminalize abortion.
“It’s a perverse thing,” said Father José Manuel Suazo Reyes, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Xalapa. “They didn’t let anyone attend, the lawmakers were locked in there, and they did it all in the dark.”
The Mexican bishops’ conference said the vote “constitutes a grave injustice, which allows an unacceptable wrong to be committed against another human being in its most vulnerable stage, when he requires greater protection, along with his mother.”
In the first 10 weeks of pregnancy from fertilization (12 weeks LMP), a preborn child develops in leaps and bounds from a single-celled embryo on day one at fertilization to an embryo with a heartbeat and distinguished forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain by day 22. Brainwave activity can be seen at six weeks, two days. At six and a half weeks, she is now moving her hands and at seven weeks, her head rotates and her legs move. By nine weeks, her hands, face, and feet are able to sense even a light touch.
There are two most common methods to committing an abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy LMP: the abortion pill and an aspiration abortion. The abortion pill kills the preborn child by depriving her of nutrients and then inducing contractions. The abortion pill has been found to be four times as dangerous for women as a first-trimester surgical abortion, and women have recounted horrific complications from the abortion pill including excessive bleeding, infection, and incomplete abortions. In addition, many women have been traumatized by birthing and seeing their deceased baby at home.
A suction aspiration abortion involves suctioning the preborn child out of the uterus with such force that the baby’s fragile body breaks into pieces. Research shows that she is sensitive to touch at this young age and can feel pain.
Veracruz joins Mexico City, Oaxaca, and Hidalgo in decriminalizing abortion up to 12 weeks. The legalization of abortion began in Mexico City in 2007 but it wasn’t until 12 years later in 2019 that Oaxaca also decriminalized abortion. Hidalgo legalized abortion just a few weeks ago. Pro-abortion groups have celebrated each pro-abortion vote.
READ: Abortion advocates in Chile seek to follow Argentina in legalizing abortion
“We thought this day was so far off that we’re in shock, in the best way possible,” said Brujas del Mar, a Veracruz pro-abortion group in a tweet. “Let’s go after the 28 [states] that are left.”
Pro-abortion groups will relentlessly pursue the decriminalization of abortion in Mexico until abortion is legal on demand for any reason as it is here in the United States.
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