Fifteenth Mexican state protects unborn by changing its constitution

Queretaro, Mexico, Sep 2, 2009 / 19:02 pm

The Queretaro State Congress in Mexico reformed its constitution Tuesday with a 21-0 vote guaranteeing protection for human life from conception to natural death. The decision makes it the fifteenth Mexican state to enact such legislation.
 
The new law, which was supported by some 60,000 signatures from Queretaro voters,establishes the right to life as “the first of all fundamental rights” and declares that the State has the duty protect human life from all attacks.
 
State representatives said the reform was in accord with the Mexican Constitution and with the international treaties ratified by Mexico. 
 
In response to protests from some feminist and pro-abortion groups who called the reform an “attack” on the rights of women, several representatives dismissed the claims as completely false and said the reform would lead to policies that benefit both women and the unborn.
 
They also pointed out that the changes in the law are not intended to “criminalize women” and that the law allows for abortion in cases of rape, life of the mother or fetal deformation.
 
Queretaro is now the fifteenth state to enact pro-life changes to its constitution. The other states are Baja California, Chihuahua, Campeche, Colima , Puebla, Durango, Jalisco, Nayarit, Quintana Roo, Guanajuato, Yucatan, Sonora, Morelos and San Luis Potosi.