Abortion Lawfare in Mexico’s Supreme Court: Between the Right to Health and Subnational Autonomy ; Batalha pelo direito ao aborto na Suprema Corte do México: entre o direito à saúde e a autonomia subnacional

This article addresses Mexico’s contentious politics of abortion, legal frames, and the role of the Supreme Court. In Mexico’s federal system, subnational legislatures have been the principal site of abortion lawfare, with initiatives passed to both decriminalize and restrict access to abortion, pitting frames of women’s rights to health against the fetal “right to life from the moment of conception.” In this article we offer a detailed mapping of critical junctures in Mexico’s abortion lawfare since 2007, based on a review of draft decisions, public transcripts, and final rulings of the Supreme Court. We suggest that while the Court has appeared largely reactive to different legislative initiatives and legal challenges, failing to produce definitive rulings affirming women’s universal right to abortion, its assertion of federal authority and its increasingly restricted reading of the scope of states’ policy-making powers has in practice favored the arguments put forward by the pro-choice movement, reaffirming and even expanding women’s sexual and reproductive rights. We highlight a key area for future comparative inquiry on sexual and reproductive rights lawfare in Latin America: the interplay between supreme courts and subnational legislatures in federal systems, and the ways that this shapes movement and counter-movement framings and strategies. ; Este artigo aborda a disputa política do aborto no México, os marcos legais e o papel da Suprema Corte. No sistema federalista do México, os legislativos subnacionais têm sido o principal local de abortion lawfare no país, com iniciativas aprovadas tanto para descriminalizar quanto para restringir o acesso ao aborto, contrapondo estruturas dos direitos das mulheres à saúde ao “direito à vida fetal desde o momento da concepção”. Neste artigo, oferecemos um mapeamento detalhado da conjuntura do abortion lawfare no México desde 2007, com base em uma revisão de projetos de decisão, transcrições de audiências públicas e decisões finais da Suprema Corte. Sugerimos que, ...