[Putting decriminalization of abortion to a refendum]. / Poner a referendum la despenalizacion del aborto.

PIP: Surveys conducted in Mexico by GIRE in 1992, 1994, and 1995 reveal that over 80% of the national population believes only a woman or a woman and her partner should make abortion decisions. Neither the government, the Church, nor physicians should intervene. Public opinion and the documented social and public health consequences of illegal abortion demonstrate the obsolescence of laws penalizing abortion. Mexico does not have a direct means of converting the opinions of the population into votes and laws. In place of referendums, committees of specialists have been convened; they are limited in number and ability to represent diverse groups, and oriented above all to the losses and gains of political and parliamentary disputes. The electoral reform of 1995-96 was a good example of the question under debate getting lost in partisan maneuvering. The Federal District and four states have initiated development of the referendum process, but the procedures have been too cumbersome and the results disappointing. In the current day, opinions are often formed not by following a rational process, but by bombardment with advertising appealing to irrational emotions. The democratic effects of referendum should be furthered by guaranteeing fair and exhaustive exposure of all points of view before the vote is held. GIRE recommends that a referendum on decriminalization of abortion should be preceded by a period of at least two years for public debate and reflection, and that the Federal Electoral Institute should organize the debate and the referendum.^ieng

[First Latin American Meeting of Journalists]. / Primer Encuentro Latinoamericano de Periodistas.

PIP: As part of the observance of the Day for Decriminalization of Abortion in Latin America and the Caribbean, a meeting of 50 journalists representing 18 countries was held in Mexico City from September 5 to 8. The journalists discussed consequences in their countries of the illegality of abortion, and agreed that it is the most serious reproductive health problem in the region. The journalists were not necessarily active in women¿s organizations working for legal abortion, but they had all demonstrated sensitivity to the problem. The meeting demonstrated the utility of mass media in the formation of a culture of respect for reproductive and sexual rights. The example of the decriminalization vote in Guyana, which was obtained by a nonpartisan vote in Congress with full citizen support, shows what can be achieved with organization, opportunity, and hard work.^ieng

[The logic of the desire. A new look at induced abortion]. / La logica del deseo. Una nueva mirada sobre la interrupcion voluntaria del embarazo.

PIP: A Colombian woman reflects on the desirability of legalizing abortion from her perspective as a psychologist and feminist. Abortion has always been a difficult topic for women because of the way they have been manipulated and made to feel guilt over their maternal roles. The free choice between motherhood or voluntary interruption of pregnancy should be available for women because every infant born has a right to be wanted, loved, and nurtured by the parents. The concept of life that informs support for the choice of abortion goes beyond the merely biological. An infant, to become fully human, requires language, culture, and affection. An infant should represent a human life that is planned, desired, and hoped for, whose arrival is an occasion for joy rather than despair, and that gives motherhood its true character of privilege. If the minimal conditions of caring for an infant are absent, the greater crime is in allowing him to be born to a life of privation and misery.^ieng

Is there life after the Mexico City policy?

PIP: On January 22, 1993--the 20th anniversary of the legalization of abortion in the US--President William Clinton signed 5 abortion-related memoranda that reversed almost a decade of conservative Republican policies in the field of reproductive health. Perhaps most significant on a global level was termination of the 1984 "Mexico City policy"--federal money can once again be assigned to international family planning programs that provide abortions or abortion counseling as part of their work. The International Planned Parenthood Federation lost millions of dollars in US aid for refusing to sign the Mexico City agreement, and anti-abortion forces in the developing world gained in strength. Most affected were poor women and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean who were forced to obtain unsafe illegal abortions. Although President Clinton's action creates the necessary political climate for a renewed battle against unsafe abortion in developing countries, an intensive campaign will be required to undo the "chill factor" created by a decade of neglect of abortion rights.^ieng

[Mexico. Federal agreement for voluntary motherhood]. / Mexico. Pacto federal por la maternidad voluntaria.

PIP: In June 1991, the National Forum for Voluntary Motherhood and the Decriminalization of Abortion was convened in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico. The forum culminated in the signing of a pact in which participants pledged to support the women of Chiapas in their efforts to win approval of legislation assuring the right to legal abortion. The action in Chiapas was viewed as the beginning of a national legislative process aimed at achieving juridical recognition of the sexual freedom of women. The participants planned to promote discussion in each community and state of existing abortion legislation and the proposed reforms to assure women the right to abortion. Space will be demanded in the mass media in order to inform the population. The movement will seek to develop a widespread local and national consensus on the right to voluntary maternity. Voluntary maternity implies recognition of the rights to women to make decisions regarding their own sexuality and fertility. It implies availability of sex education and contraception, as well as access to safe and legal abortions. Voluntary maternity implies elimination by society of morbidity and mortality due to causes associated with reproduction, and it implies generalized use of contraception and elimination of involuntary sterilization. Voluntary maternity requires that the state develop an ethic of protection of mothers and children, and that authoritarian demographic programs that do not recognize the humanity and autonomy of women be abandoned. Voluntary maternity requires protection by public institutions, and it requires that women and children have access to a decent standard of living. It requires as well that the daily care of children cease to be the exclusive responsibility of women and that it be shared by men. Women cannot be free as long as maternity is compulsory. It is proposed that the discussions and proposals made to local legislatures will eventually be brought before the national Congress in order that legislation be enacted to safeguard the right to voluntary maternity of all Mexican women.^ieng

[Abortion: a public health or a family planning problem]. / Aborto: un problema de salud publica o de planificacion familiar.

PIP: This work discusses various views of abortion and presents data on the legal aspects and incidence of abortion in Mexico as a contribution to a more productive dialogue on the problems of abortion. It is very difficult to deter women who have decided to seek an abortion, regardless of whether the procedure is legal or even safe. In the state of Sinaloa, Mexico, an abortion has not been punishable since 1939 if it caused by "imprudence", if the woman is a victim of rape, or if the woman's life is endangered by pregnancy. The penal codes of most Mexican states and the Federal District contain similar provisions. In October 1990, the state of Chiapas decriminalized abortion for most indications in the 1st 90 days of pregnancy on the basis that the fertility and growth rates were too high, many children were in situations of extreme poverty, and the widespread practice of illegal abortion led to high rates of maternal morbidity and mortality. The decree legalizing abortion in Chiapas was suspended in early 1991 by the Congress of Chiapas and is currently under further study by the National Commission on Human Rights. UNICEF estimates that in 1990, some 100,000 illegal abortions occurred daily in the world. 150,000-200,000 women may die each year as a result of illegal abortions. Today some 300 million couples throughout the world do not want more children but lack access to family planning. UNICEF estimates that the world rate of population growth would decline by 30% if all couples not desiring children practiced effective contraception. A large number of illegal abortions are believed to occur annually in Mexico. Abortions in Mexico are most common among married women of lower or lower middle class who already have children and who wish to avoid the economic hardships of a new baby. Perhaps because of their illegality, abortions represent a significant expense for a household. Unsafe abortions may cause serious health and fertility problems for women. The Mexican Institute of Social Security estimates that the rate of abortion has declined by about 25% between 1982-1990. Currently 1 of every 10 pregnancies is believed to end in induced abortion. Family planning programs have led to declines in the rates of both pregnancy and abortion in Mexico. The number of fertile-aged women attended in Social Security facilities for abortion complications declined from 11.5/1000 in 1982 to 8.8 in 1990. The extremes of opinion about whether abortion should be made safe and legal appear irreconcilably opposed. From a national perspective, abortion is a public health problem that needs to be addressed by the health sector. Existing laws permitting abortion under some circumstances should be made more explicit. The point of view of society should be respected, but women should also be protected.^ieng

Public policy and female sterilization in Costa Rica.

For 20 years, female sterilization has been increasing in popularity as a contraceptive method in Costa Rica. However, contraceptive sterilization has never been allowed explicitly under Costa Rican law. In 1976 the Costa Rican National Assembly instituted more stringent guidelines regarding medical sterilizations in order to eliminate contraceptive sterilizations, which had been occurring under relatively loose interpretations of national policy. Data from the 1976 National Fertility Survey and the 1981 Contraceptive Prevalence Survey indicate that the change in policy had only a short-term effect. Period sterilization rates fell substantially after 1976 but rebounded considerably by 1980, and the estimate of the proportion of married women who will ultimately be sterilized was approximately .5 for the periods both before and after 1976.

PIP: There has been a rapid decline in fertility in Costa Rica in the past 2 decades as a result of dramatic increases in the use of contraceptives, female sterilization being one of the most popular. The objection of certain groups to contraceptive sterilization was responsible for a change in procedures designed to eliminate sterilization for contraceptive purposes. However the enforcement of this policy has had little or no long term effect since medical versus contraceptive indications for the procedure cannot be defined precisely, and surgical sterilization for medical reasons is an important part of any modern health program for women. Other examples of government effort to eliminate access to certain forms of contraception or to reverse fertility declines, especially Eastern European countries such as limiting the availability of abortion, have had only very short-lived impact on birth rates. Romania provides the most striking example. In 1966, before stringent regulations in regard to abortion went into effect, the abortion ratio per 1000 live births was 3050; in 1967 it was 333, when abortion was legally limited to women over 45; or women having 4 or more children; or with specific medical indications. But the ratio increased to a level close to 1000 by 1972; abortions were being performed more frequently on the grounds of adverse mental health consequences, which were classified as a medical indication. The general conclusion from the cases cited in this paper is that once low fertility norms are widely accepted in a society that is accustomed to access to the effective contraception needed to fulfill those norms, the ability of a government to restrict access to certain methods of contraception is substantially limited. Studies of family planning in developing countries show that the task of initiating a fertility decline is very difficult as high fertility norms are deeply integrated into social systems and not easy to dislodge. However, once low fertility norms and associated behavior are firmly established, they are equally difficult to dislodge.