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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | March 2007 
Mexican Church Voices Anger
 totalcatholic.com
| | Mexico's President Felipe Calderon speaks during an interview in his office at the official residence, Los Pinos, in Mexico City, March 22, 2007. (Reuters/Andrew Winning) |
Mexico President Felipe Calderon has backed the Catholic Church's stance on abortion and declared himself against a change in the country's strict abortion laws.
Speaking ahead of efforts in Mexico City to legalise abortion in the first 13 weeks of pregnancy, the president declared his own pro-life credentials.
"I have a personal conviction, and I am in defence of life," he said.
"I have a plain respect for dignity and human life and within this I believe the existing legislation is adequate."
Mexico City is a federal district with its own legislature and lawmakers there are looking to change the existing law.
Civil leaders in the nation’s capital had tried to prevent the Catholic Church from having a voice in the debate, but a statement from the Archdiocese of Mexico City said the Church would not stay silent on the issue.
Diocesan director of communications Fr Hugo Valdemar Romero said: “Neither the Catholic Church, nor the society in which women and men of good will actively participate, has been defeated by those who promote an unjust, irresponsible and criminal law that tries to terminate the life of innocent and defenceless beings in the maternal womb, beings who have the right to be born and to live their own life.
"The Church and civil society have not experienced a loss in the battle for human life that, in fact, has only just begun."
"The Church will not keep quiet," he added.
Mexican Churches From United Front Against Abortion Bill
E. Eduardo Castillo - Associated Press
Mexico City – Yelling “Yes to life, no to abortion!” Roman Catholic and anti-abortion groups marched Thursday in downtown Mexico City to protest bills to legalize abortion in Mexico, an issue that has divided the nation and drawn in conservative President Felipe Calderón.
United under the “We Are Life” movement, more than 500 people marched from the cathedral to the building of the Mexico City Congress, where lawmakers from the left and center are pushing for the reforms to allow abortion during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.
Carrying red balloons and signs that read “Legislator, why do you want to kill a life that is just starting?” protesters handed over a counterproposal to lawmakers who met the group outside the congressional building. The proposal suggests setting up a fund for pregnant women that would cover their medical costs and providing incentives to businesses that promote family values.
“We don't want them to commit murder,” said Ana Patricia Lara, a 20-year-old student carrying a sign for family values.
The abortion bills have been filed by lawmakers from the leftist Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, in both the national Senate and Mexico City legislature.
Catholic church officials have previously said they will excommunicate lawmakers who vote in favor of the bills.
While about 90 percent of Mexico's total population of 104 million are Roman Catholic, there are more than 4 million evangelicals and the number grows annually.
Current Mexican law permits abortions only if the pregnancy endangers a woman's life or if the woman has been raped.
But advocates of the bills say this does not stop wealthier Mexican women traveling to the United States for the procedures while thousands of poor women remain in Mexico and have back-street operations. The law would allow abortions to be carried out under safer conditions, they argue. It is expected to be voted on by the end of April.
“We need to stop thousands of women from dying in unsafe operations,” said Sen. Carlos Navarrete, who heads the PRD in the Senate. “This is a right our laws should guarantee.”
The church's position comes in spite of a constitutional ban on political activity by religious groups. It is also being supported by the Vatican, which is sending its chief anti-abortion campaigner, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, to inaugurate an international conference in Mexico City on Friday
Calderón, of the conservative National Action Party, has also spoken against the measure.
“I have a personal conviction, and I am in defense of life,” he told a Tuesday news conference. “I have a plain respect for dignity and human life and, within this, I believe the existing legislation is adequate.” |
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