Women take part in a protest to celebrate the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, in Saltillo, Mexico on September 7, 2021.
Mexico's Supreme Court has ruled that a state law protecting "life from conception" and equating abortion with murder was unconstitutional in another victory for abortion rights campaigners.
The unanimous decision on Thursday by the top court concerns the penal code of the northern state of Sinaloa, but will also affect other states with similar laws.
"It's not up to any local legislature or this plenary to establish the origin of human life, especially in the absence of scientific consensus," said Judge Alfredo Gutierrez Ortiz Mena.
The court's decision, another blow to conservatives in the predominantly-Catholic nation, came days after its watershed ruling that penalising abortion is unconstitutional, a major victory for reproductive rights activists.
Hundreds of mostly poor Mexican women have been prosecuted for abortion, while at least several dozen remain jailed.
READ MORE: Police in Mexico clash with pro-abortion rights protesters
A woman holds up a banner which reads "My body, I decide" during a protest to celebrate the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) that declared the criminalisation of abortion as unconstitutional, in Saltillo, Mexico on September 7, 2021.
Abortion rules in Mexico
After Mexico City decriminalised abortion in the first 12 weeks in 2007, at least 10 of the country's 32 states passed laws obliging the authorities to protect life from the moment of conception.
The legislation meant that abortion was equated with infanticide, according to experts.
Mexico has a federated system in which the states establish their own laws, but they can be overridden by Supreme Court rulings that establish jurisprudence.
On Tuesday the top court ruled that women should not be punished for abortion, opening the way for women across the country to access the procedure without fear of being prosecuted and potentially imprisoned.
Up to now, abortion has been legal in four states including Mexico City in the first 12 weeks, while elsewhere, it was permitted in cases of rape.
READ MORE: International Women's Day: Rallies and pledges amid raging pandemic
Women take part in a protest to celebrate the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation that declared the criminalisation of abortion as unconstitutional, in Saltillo, on Mexico, September 7, 2021.
Copyright © 2024 TRT World.