Columnist denounces ‘media charade’ over infanticide cases in Mexico

Mexico City, Mexico, Sep 15, 2010 / 16:04 pm

A columnist from the Mexican newspaper El Universal has denounced the recent “media charade” carried out by abortion supporters that ended with the release of seven women who had been convicted of killing their newborn children.

The women were portrayed by the media as being imprisoned for abortion, not infanticide.

Ricardo Aleman wrote in his column this week about the case of “seven women serving more than 20-year prison sentences for the supposed crime of abortion. 

“The scandal—and the manipulation—was such  that it caused panic in the mediocre government of Guanajuato, whose governor—who naively believes he will be a presidential candidate—preferred to pass the buck as far away as possible and proposed that the State Congress enact ‘fast-track’ reforms to allow the women to go free,” he wrote.

“There is an abundance of evidence that once again, media pressure was used as a battering ram to try to break the law. Why? Because the story behind the women in prison supposedly for abortion is not like they are portraying it,” he warned.

“None of the seven women released was convicted and imprisoned for having an abortion,” Aleman said. “All of them, for different reasons and circumstances, were involved in the death of one of their children—hours, days or weeks after birth—and therefore they were punished in accord with the new laws of the government of Guanajuato.  Moreover, if they had been tried for the crime of abortion, according to the law they would not have received more than three years in prison,” he said.