Wednesday, April 25, 2007

St. Pete Times Editorial Response: Mexico City Abortion

After reading an article published by the St. Petersburg Times, expounding on the recent vote in Mexico City (a predominantly Roman Catholic region, as with the rest of Latin America) to legalize abortion in the first 12 weeks, this is the (brief) response that I sent to the editorial board:

A step in the right direction

Mexico City's decision to legalize abortion should be commended by the United States as well as the international community. Coming only a few days after the U.S. Supreme Court decision to uphold the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, the ultimate test of individual freedom and autonomy will be when the case reaches the Supreme Court in Mexico. Let us hope that the Mexican government will embrace the principles of privacy, individual will, and protection against the collectivist tendencies that permeate through the mostly Catholic region.

I'll try to provide a more detailed analysis of the history of abortion constitutionality, both in United States and Latin America, as soon as I can.

[Update]

I received the following response in the comments section:

"That is also happening in many European countries that are also traditionally very conservative on such issues, it's a world wide trend, although in Europe it's more due to secularization than anything else."

Actually, from what it seems, in contrast to the major European nations, Mexico is fairly far behind in legalizing abortion, even to the most minimal extent.

In England, abortion has been available up to 24 weeks since 1967; in Denmark, it has been legal until the 12th week ever since 1973; in Italy, abortion though the 12th week has been legal since 1978 (was backed by a popular referendum in 1981); in Spain, though the regulations are substantially stringent, it has been legal to get abortion until the 12th week since 1985.

Either way look at this however, Mexico City should still be applauded for taking a step in the right (err, or is it left) direction.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is also happening in many European countries that are also traditionally very conservative on such issues, it's a world wide trend, although in Europe it's more due to secularization than anything else.

Anonymous said...

Lukas Pleva!
Abortion is wrong!
How many times have we gone over this? Mexico should absolutely not be applauded for this, but instead we should applaud the US Supreme Court for its' decision as well as President Bush for his wonderful nominee to the court.....ha!

Anonymous said...

i understand your point and i've heard it many times. but i think you are an idiot. since when is it okay to take the life of a living thing that will grow into a human? you may defend personal freedom, as do i, within reason, but the killing of an embreyo that will one day be a child is wrong and you are supporting murder. you should be ashamed of yourself for supporting such an inhumane act.

Anonymous said...

Why are you so for things that took place in mexico? Are you an illegal immigrant or something? But seriously I didn't know you were for abortion, this makes me look at you in an even worse light. (Which i didn't think was possible) What is wrong with adoption, that is a great solution. A lot of couples can't have babies, and adopt children to give them a better life. But hey, according to you it's totally cool to kill an innocent embryo/fetus that had nothing to do with any details about his/her conception.

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