from 2015 to 2018 began in Mexico 2 thousand 135 inquiries and information about research by the practice of abortionsactivity considered a criminal offence in all States of the country. It is an average of 500 cases per year.
Thus reveal it official data of crime incidence reported by the procuratorates in the country through the national system of public security, also showing a growth of several illicit that primarily affect women, such as family violence with an increase of 36% in the past three years; sexual violence with a rise of 29%, as well as the femicides with 100% growth.
Morena Senator announces that it will present initiative against abortion at the federal level on March 5 the federal Government recognized that the problem of violence against women is a matter of State and announced a series of emerging actions to combat it. At the same time he said that he will seek to promote the forwarding of a single criminal code and that eliminate or limit abortion as a crime would analyze.
Official data show that in 2018 570 portfolios of research opened by abortion in 28 of the 32 States; only four States did not report any criminal investigation: Colima, Nayarit, Tlaxcala and Yucatán.
2018 is the highest annual number of abortion cases in the past four years, which is the period that there is public information in this regard. Began in 2017, 515 research portfolios; in 2016 were 538, and in 2015, the figure was 512 preliminary investigations for this crime.
Last year, four States concentrated half of all folders of research initiated by abortion in the country: City of Mexico with 109 cases; State of Mexico with 79; Baja California with 63, and Tamaulipas with 46.
However, if the population factor is taken into account (the crime of abortion may be charged both a woman and a man who help her or forces them), the five States with the highest rate of incidence are Baja California Sur with 1.92 cases per 100,000 inhabitants; Baja California with 1.73 cases, Tamaulipas with 1.25; City of Mexico with a rate of 1.24, and Nuevo Leon with 0.71.
Among the entities that registered lower rates is Puebla with 0.07 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants; Tabasco and Guerrero with 0.08; as well as Michoacan and Campeche with a rate of 0.1.
Eruviel Avila presents anti-abortion initiative; It proposes that women give in adoption babies
abortion as a crime
currently abortion is typified as a crime throughout the country. Appears on 32 criminal codes of the federal entities, as well as in the federal.
Article 329 of the Federal Penal Code precisely defines it as “the death of the product of conception” at any time during the pregnancy. A review of different criminal codes of the country gives a similar definition of this crime with minimal modifications.
Abortion in Mexico: in which States criminalize more women by terminating the pregnancy?
There are only two cases with important nuances: one is the city of Mexico where article 144 of the local criminal code defines abortion as “interruption of pregnancy after the tenth week of gestation”. This means that if the abortion is carried out before the third month is not considered a crime, but if it is way later if it is.
Most of the Code contemplates exceptions to not penalize abortion. For example, the fact that the pregnancy is the result of a rape, or that the health of the mother is at risk.
Prison sentences vary depending on the code it concerned. For example, the Federal Penal Code establishes that will impose which do have an abortion to a woman with her consent of 1 to 3 years in prison, and if done without consent will be from 3 to 6 years in prison.
And in the case of the mother, the penalty is 6 months to 1 year in prison, provided, it says code, proving that women “don’t have bad reputation” and that pregnancy is the product of an “illegitimate” union. If the above such a penalty can grow from 1 to 5 years in prison.
The capital Criminal Code states that punishment for which make abortion a consensual way woman is 1 to 3 years in prison, and if it is without their consent will be from 5 to 8 years in prison; for the mother the penalty is 3 to 6 months in prison.
The Criminal Code of Baja California, one of the entities with the highest incidence in this crime, generally contemplates a penalty of 1 to 5 years for the mother and whoever does it abort in a consensual manner, and 3 to 8 years of jail for which make abortion against the will of the women.
While Nuevo León Code contemplates a sentence of six months to one year in prison for the mother, and that induce abortion without consent of the woman a six-year sentence; If there is violence of by means up to nine years. In Yucatan, the code marks the same punishment for it that can cause an abortion and to mother the sanction goes from 3 to 12 months.
Abortion in Nuevo Leon: what scope does the reform that protects the right to life?
There are some criminal codes that do not include imprisonment for the mother, though to consider abortion as a crime. For example, Veracruz and Chiapas measures as punishment for her treatments in freedom, educational or comprehensive care.
Last Monday, in his appearance as part of the process of election to the post of Minister of the Supreme Court, Yasmín Esquivel, one of the candidates, said when questioned about the criminalization of abortion that “constrain what they claim to be the” local laws”, and declared himself in favour of life.
In this context the Ministry of the Interior, Olga Sánchez Cordero, has said that he will propose the issuance of a single criminal code that could approve, modify or refine the definition of abortion as a crime.
“What is intended and what is clear, is not criminalize a woman.” Aim is not to take it and hold it to a criminal trial and deprive of their freedom (…) If a single criminal code might be at any given time, there it could be, it could be based on popular representation, which is within the Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate the possibility of not criminalizing women by abort”, he explained.
Lawyer Karla rooms human rights expert said in interview that a penal code of 21st century do not follow containing illicit to be discriminatory nor to criminalize the women. He recalled that United Nations, through the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW), has reiterated to Mexico the need to revise the definition of the crime of abortion and its discriminatory content.
violence against women on the rise
the plan of emergency actions which the Government unveiled seeks to attack the growth of various illegal where the victims tend to be mostly women and girls.
Official crime incidence data show, for example, that crimes of sexual violence have had a sustained growth in the last three years, and spent 31 thousand 170 cases by 2015 to 41 thousand 398 in 2018, an increase from the 28.8%.
The five entities with the highest rate of sexual offences in 2018 were: Chihuahua with 202 complaints per 100,000 population; Nuevo León with 177; State of Mexico cn 141; Veracruz with 111, and Jalisco with 97 cases.
In the case of domestic violence, the complaints went from 126 thousand 816 in 2015 (104.8 rate cases) to 178 thousand 561 in 2018 (rate of 143.2 cases), an increase from the 36.5%.
The five States with the highest rate of complaints of domestic violence last year were: Nuevo León with 1 thousand 18 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants; Chihuahua with a rate of 839; Sinaloa with a rate of 401 cases; Veracruz with 377, and city of Mexico in fifth place with 337.
Another crime that suffered an increase in 2018 to 2015 was gender-based violence with a rise of 32. 5%, although the number of complaints was reduced with regard to 2017.
As for femicides, the figure went from 407 inquiries in 2015 to 845 research portfolios in 2018, a growth of over 100%. However, experts have warned that part of this increase is due to gradually grew the list of States that typify femicide and efforts have been made to ensure a higher classification of the same.
Were the States with the highest rate of denunciation of feminicide in 2018: Colima with 3.37 cases per 100 thousand women; Sinaloa with a rate of 3.09 cases; Nuevo León with 2.96; Morelos with 2.72, and Chihuahua with 2.63.
