News24com Mexican president says abortion ruling must be respected
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks during a press conference in Mexico City.
PHOTO: Mexican Presidency/AFP
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Wednesday that a landmark Supreme Court ruling that women should not be punished for abortion must be respected.
Lopez Obrador has avoided giving his personal opinion on what is a divisive issue in the conservative, Catholic-majority Latin American country.
The Supreme Court declaration on Tuesday that criminalising abortion is unconstitutional "must be respected," he said at his daily news conference.
"We should not, in my case, take sides," he added.
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Abortion is legal in Mexico City and three other states in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, while other states' penal codes only allow the procedure in cases of rape.
The Supreme Court ruling delighted abortion rights campaigners but dismayed anti-abortion activists.
It followed a constitutional challenge to the penal code of the northern state of Coahuila, where women who have abortions previously faced up to three years in prison.
The ruling will affect the whole of Mexico, allowing women in states where abortion is criminalized to undergo the procedure with a judge's order, experts said.
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