FEDERALISM AND THE POLITICAL AND LEGAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR REFORM AND BACKLASH IN MEXICO?S ABORTION LAW

ALBA RUIBAL

Boston

Congreso; Congreso de American Political Science Association; 2018

American Political Science Association

In 2007, Mexico City became one of the few Latin American jurisdictions in which abortion on demand is legal. Among recent reforms to abortion laws in the region, this is the most successful case so far in terms of the recognition of women?s right to decide. The new abortion law was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2008. On the other hand, the reform triggered a backlash process in eighteen Mexican states, which since 2008 modified their constitutions to include a protection of the right to life from conception. In 2011, the Court upheld the counter-reforms.The process of reform and backlash in Mexico raises the question of why abortion legalization has been possible in Mexico City, while counter-reforms succeeded in other subnational entities, and why, in a short period of time, the Supreme Court was able to uphold both types of legal changes. Drawing on field work carried out in Mexico City in 2011, this paper analyzes the political and legal process of abortion law reform in Mexico City and the backlash process that ensued in other subnational entities across the country. It explains the divergent legislative and judicial results by focusing on the intersection of federalism with three main variables: a) the movement?s strength and structure b) the impact of national electoral politics in subnational policy-making; c) the legal opportunity at the Supreme Court, and in particular its rules and doctrines vis-à-vis federalism.