Mexican bishops respond to pro-abortion ruling by Supreme Court: Every life has worth

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 11, 2023 / 08:30 am

The Mexican Bishops’ Conference (CEM) spoke out about the recent pro-abortion ruling of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN), insisting that “all human life, from conception to natural death, has worth regardless of its conditions and eventualities.”

In a statement posted Sept. 7 on X, the bishops addressed the Sept. 6 ruling of the First Chamber of the SCJN, which declared “unconstitutional the legal system that criminalizes abortion in the Federal Penal Code.”

The SCJN ruled in favor of the feminist organization Information Group on Reproductive Choice (GIRE), which had challenged the constitutionality of the sections of the code that criminalize abortion.

The Mexican bishops pointed out that the Supreme Court’s decision “does not constitute a general declaration of invalidity of the articles that prohibit abortion in the Federal Penal Code, since they remain in force for the rest of the population; nor does it represent an obligation for the [state legislatures] to rush to decriminalize abortion in their respective penal codes.”

“But it does make evident a social reality that we must understand as pastors and attend to with due diligence,” they stated.

The prelates warned that society cannot “wash its hands by eliminating the weakest, the nascent person.” In addition, they called for “creating the best conditions to welcome life and not throw it away.”

For the CEM, induced abortion, when decriminalized, “normalizes the throwaway culture and leaves the authorities and society as a whole without responsibility for the care and protection of all human life.”

For the bishops, the “conception and birth of a new life represent a good whose value is infinite.” They therefore emphasized that “its care and protection is not a responsibility that concerns only the pregnant woman but society as a whole.”

“It would be deplorable to institutionalize violence against the weak with the permission of the law,” they stressed.

To counteract this, solidarity and subsidiary aid is required “to families, single mothers, orphaned and/or abandoned boys and girls; of comprehensive affective sex education and the search for responsible parenting exercises.”

The bishops noted that “there are attenuating factors” for the criminalization of abortion “without this implying the legalization” of this practice nor “the denial of its gravity, nor, even less, the vindication of its legality. Induced abortion will never be a moral or legitimate option.”

“Otherwise, the legalization of induced abortion means the recognition that  state and organized civil society can do nothing at all in the face of the causes that lead women to consider abortion as a solution without addressing what is the real problem,” the bishops explained.

Finally, the CEM pointed out that “faith helps us look more deeply at the terrible drama of abortion,” which is why it encourages Catholics to “proclaim before everyone the greatness and dignity of every man, whose life is a gift of God; a gift that requires being welcomed and protected in all its forms just as Jesus Christ has taught us, who is the way, truth, and life.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.