Feminist collectives in Sinaloa are preparing for September 28th, when they’ll carry on the fight against the social stigma and criminalization of abortion.

Text by Alexandra Figueroa, originally published in Revista Espejo on September 12, 2021.

Translation by Dawn Marie Paley.

September 28th is the Global Day of Action for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion, this year it will be celebrated in the midst of a massive crusade, in which the Supreme Court of Mexico (SCJN) has declared the criminalization of abortion unconstitutional.

Feminist collectives in the state of Sinaloa have declared that the Supreme Court ruling does not go far enough. Abortion must be made legal in the State Congress, which is why they are pushing the current or next legislature do so, or pushing the Governor of the Sinaloa to do it himself. 

Activist and feminist Mariel Yee said the government of Sinaloa has to legalize abortion, as follows from the Supreme Court ruling, as many girls, teenagers and women are already having abortions thanks to the help of feminists.

“If it doesn’t happen one way, it will happen the other way, because at the end of the day, regardless of the activation of protocols, girls, teenagers and women are seeking to interrupt pregnancy, in doing so girls and women are exercising their full rights through accompaniment networks, getting the information, sometimes they have to leave their state and go to another,” she said.

She said that although it is an issue that could have political costs, that is not an excuse to continue to deny pregnant people, girls, adolescents and women the right to choose.

Regarding the commemoration on September 28th, Mariel Yee said they are preparing a series of activities as part of the struggle for the social decriminalization, to show how the criminalization of abortion violates human rights.

“We share specific information about these processes, about why it is a violation of girls, teenagers and womens’ rights that the ability to choose what happens to their bodies is denied to them,” she said.

She noted that it is also important that there be further legal action and advocacy on public policy regarding abortion, and that the pressure must be kept on the Congress of Sinaloa.

With files from Marcos Vizcarra.

This report was originally Published in Revista Espejo, which is part of the Media Alliance organized by Red de Periodistas de a Pie. You can read the original here.

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