The controversial move to legalize abortion has been challenged in the Supreme Court and upheld. Ninety percent of Mexico’s population is Catholic.

Martin Savidge travels to populous Mexico City, where the abortion debate rages on.

Below, bloggers in Mexico and elsewhere voice their support or opposition to the city’s legalization of abortion — a rarity in Latin American countries.

Reverend Thomas Euteneuer of Human Life International writes about his organization’s trip to Mexico, where they prayed in front of an abortion clinic. He calls Mexico City’s law “cruel and inhumane.”

The “Guanabee” blog argues that abortion is much more than a religious issue, writing that it also involves class, gender politics and culture issues.

“The Unapologetic Mexican” blog writes that media coverage of the legalization was biased and virtually ignored women’s voices, but calls the new law “a good start.”

The “South Chicagoan” blog writes that Mexico City’s decision to provide free Viagra to elderly men reflects gender bias when it comes to sexuality, since it is still so difficult to get an abortion.

The “Ciudad de Mexico” blog (in Spanish) wonders why Mexico City’s legislators did not engage in public debate on the issue prior to the legalization. (See Google’s English translation of the entry)

Blogger “Jo Tuckman” writes that it is amazing how far Mexico has come in such a short period of time.

For more on the abortion debate in Latin American countries, see what a Worldfocus contributing blogger had to say about the Urguayan president’s veto of a bill that would have legalized abortion in that country.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user emilyjmc06 under a Creative Commons license.

President Tabaré Vázquez vetoed a bill that would have legalized abortion in Uruguay. Photo: Presidencia de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay

President Tabaré Vázquez used his veto pen to stop a bill that would have legalized abortion in Uruguay, keeping the procedure illegal.

Uruguay has been secular for much of its history, unlike many other Latin American nations. The bill had passed in the Uruguayan House and Senate, but parliament did not gain the three-fifths support necessary to override Vázquez ’s veto. The president, a doctor, cited “the reality of the existence of human life in the gestation period” in his explanation for the veto.

Benjamin Gedan is a Fulbright research scholar living in Montevideo and studying the Uruguayan media. He writes at his blog, “Small State,” about the ongoing Uruguayan abortion debate.

In secular Uruguay, abortion still a criminal act

At first glance, the decision by Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez to veto legislation legalizing abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy is surprising. After all, the president’s own party, the Frente Amplio, promoted the legislation in both the House and Senate. The very fact that abortion is illegal in Uruguay, by far the most secular country in Latin America, seems out of place. For example, in Mexico, where the Catholic Church is far more influential, the capital city legalized abortion in April 2007.

But what seems clear is that Uruguayans are far more comfortable skipping out on church on Sunday than accepting abortion. A recent poll by Interconsult found that only 57 percent of Uruguayans support the legalization of abortion, the BBC reported.

In a statement, Vázquez framed his objections in secular terms: “Los derechos son la ética de la democracia, la vida de todos es el bien primero por el que deben velar los gobiernos democráticos” (”Legal rights are the ethics of democracy, and human life is the primary object that democratic governments should value”). But as my Fulbright colleague and guest-blogger Todd Martinez has observed, Uruguayans, though hardly churchgoers, are not exactly atheists either. Read Todd’s take on the abortion debate here.

I’ve heard that Vázquez may ultimately come out in favor of a referendum on the abortion issue, or simply leave the issue to the next president. If the Frente Amplio wins the presidency for the second time and keeps control of Congress, Uruguay may very well end up with an abortion law that matches its global image. For now, however, women who have an abortion and the doctors who help them still face prison, and abortion is only allowed in cases of rape or if the life of the mother is in danger.

See the original post.

The views expressed by contributing bloggers do not reflect the views of Worldfocus or its partners.

Women embroider traditional indigenous garb in San Nicolas, Mexico. Photo: Martin Savidge.

Anchor Martin Savidge reports on a quiet immigration town and the clamoring abortion debate in Mexico.

In my previous life before Worldfocus, I was a reporter. I still like to think I’m a reporter who just works from behind the desk. But when time allows, I still want to get out there to find some good stories to tell you.

So this past weekend, instead of going home to Atlanta, I kept on flying south down to Mexico to investigate two reports we will bring you in the near future.

For the first story, we rose early on Saturday and loaded into a minivan for a three-hour drive north of Mexico City. It takes at least an hour to free yourself from the sprawl of 20 million people. Eventually, the scenery gives way to farmland and distant peaks shrouded in clouds.

We arrived in the Mezquital Valley and the town of Puerto Dexhti, population 800. In a way, you could call it the town America helped to build. Many of the houses — even the town hall, which once a week is also the doctor’s office when he comes to town — were built thanks to dollars earned in the United States and sent south by immigrants.

But these are hard times in America, which means these are even harder times in tiny towns like Puerto Dexhti. It’s an immigration story told in a different way.

The other story is simple, but the implications are literally life and death. Abortion is now legal in Mexico City. That shocks many people since Mexico is overwhelmingly Catholic. We talk to all sides of this emotionally and religiously charged issue. How did it happen? Who performs the procedure when 85 percent of Mexico City’s doctors refuse? It’s a long-fought debate, but one made new when seen though the lens of another nation.

I’ll talk to you soon.

- Martin Savidge

President Rafael Correa has more power following the approval of a new constitution.

Voters in Ecuador overwhelmingly approved a new constitution in a referendum on Sunday, giving increased power to President Rafael Correa and ushering in other measures to expand homosexual rights and preserve nature.

The “Alterdestiny” blog views the results as a sign that people are tired of instability in the country.

“Open Democracy” suggests that the new consitution might enable Ecuador, which has had seven presidents in the last decade, to look to the future and lists challenges facing the country.

The “Ecuanews” blog discusses the campaign against the constitution and assesses why it failed.

“Roger Hollander” also describes the massive campaign against the constitution and praises its passage as a victory of humanity over capitalism.

Blogger “Elizabeth Tims” posts images from voting day and writes about how the constitutional changes will affect abortion rights and the Catholic Church in Ecuador.

“Ecuador Living,” a blog written by American expatriates, lists pros and cons of Correa’s government and the new constitution.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Que Comunismo under a Creative Commons license.