Through a unanimous decision, Mexico's Supreme Court has declared that criminalizing early-term abortion is unconstitutional.
Before the Supreme Court has intervened with this highly sensitive issue, the state of Coahuila has been punishing women who are aborting before 12 weeks.
Regardless of their reasons for doing the procedure, the state threatens them with one to three years in prison.
"In the name of life, women are penalized, for being ignorant, or promiscuous, or for being 'bad' and not carrying the pregnancy to term in order to give the baby up for adoption," Justice Margarita Rios Farjat said in quotes by Bloomberg.
Mexico, which is a socially conservative nation with a large Catholic population, follows Argentina in legalizing elective abortion.
As expected, there were mixed reactions to the Supreme Court's controversial decision. Some sectors praised it as advancing human rights while others have sharply criticized it, saying the decision was immoral.
Also, the country's ruling was made after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to prohibit a law in Texas that bans abortions after six weeks and deputizes citizens to file charges against those who participate in the procedure of abortion.
Mexico City and Oaxaca state are currently the only states that don't implement criminal charges on early-term abortion.
The states of Hidalgo and Veracruz are also in line with this policy but have specific restrictions in enforcing it.
As Mexico's Supreme Court finalized its decision, all courts across the country will be prevented to prosecute women who are accused of voluntary early-stage abortion.
Arturo Zaldivar, President of Mexico's Supreme Court, said that the decision is a historic day for the rights of women, especially the pregnant people in the country.
Amnesty International also praised the decision, saying that it will advance human rights and strengthen the spirit of the feminist movement.
Across the region, Uruguay, Argentina, and Cuba are the only nations that authorize their citizens to end their pregnancies.
In Chile, its court has decriminalized abortion under specific conditions in 2017.
The Supreme Court has also made controversial decisions before, which includes allowing the "recreational" use of marijuana and saying that banning same-sex marriage was against the law.
