Mexico’s Path to Legalizing Abortion

<p>In a major turn of events in Mexico, which has one of the largest Catholic populations in the world, its Supreme Court last week decriminalized abortions.</p><p>The Supreme Court ruling is a milestone for Mexico’s feminist movement. But change might not come quickly: Abortion law is mostly administered at the state level in Mexico, much of the country remains culturally conservative, and many Mexican medical workers are morally opposed to abortion.</p><p>In a country where polls indicate most people don’t believe that abortion should be legal, what effect will the ruling have in practice?</p><p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/natalie-kitroeff?smid=pc-thedaily">Natalie Kitroeff</a>, a correspondent covering Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean for The New York Times. </p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/signup/NTTD?smid=pc-thedaily">Sign up here</a> to get The Daily in your inbox each morning. And for an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/the-daily?module=inline">subscribe to our newsletter</a>. </p><p>Background reading: </p><ul><li>The Supreme Court’s decision to decriminalize abortion set a legal precedent for the nation. But<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/08/world/americas/mexico-abortion-access.html"> applying it to all of Mexico’s states will be a long path</a>. Read this article in Spanish<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/es/2021/09/10/espanol/aborto-legal-mexico.html"> here</a>.</li><li>Abortion may no longer be a crime, but a battle looms over<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/13/world/americas/mexico-abortion-objectors.html"> whether public hospitals will be required to offer</a> the procedure. Read this article in Spanish<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/es/2021/09/13/espanol/aborto-mexico-objecion-conciencia.html"> here</a>.</li></ul><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily">nytimes.com/thedaily</a>. Transcripts of e