FEATURE Using litigation to defend women prosecuted for abortion in Mexico: challenging state laws and the implications of recent court judgments Jennifer Paine, a Regina Tamés Noriega, b Alma Luz Beltrán y Puga c a Director of Institutional Development, Grupo de Información en Reproducción Elegida (GIRE), Mexico, DF, Mexico. Correspondence: jpaine@giremx.org.mx b Executive Director, GIRE, Mexico, DF, Mexico c Legal Coordinator, GIRE, Mexico, DF, Mexico Abstract: While women in Mexico City can access free, safe and legal abortion during the first trimester, women in other Mexican states face many barriers. To complicate matters, between 2008 and 2009, 16 state constitutions were amended to protect life from conception. While these reforms do not annul existing legal abortion indications, they have created additional obstacles for women. Health providers increasingly report women who seek life-saving care for complications such as haemorrhage to the police, and some cases eventually end up in court. The Grupo de Información en Reproducción Elegida (GIRE) has successfully litigated such cases in state courts, with positive outcomes. However, state courts have mainly focused on procedural issues. The Mexican Supreme Court ruling supporting Mexico City’s law has had a positive effect, but a stronger stance is needed. This paper discusses the constitutional framework and jurisprudence regarding abortion in Mexico, and the recent Costa Rica decision of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. We assert that Mexican states must guarantee women’s access to abortion on the legal grounds established in law. We continue to support litigation at the state level to oblige courts to exonerate women prosecuted for illegal abortion. Advocacy should, of course, also address the legislative and executive branches, while working simultaneously to set legal precedents on abortion. © 2014 Reproductive Health Matters Keywords: abortion, criminal law, law and policy, jurisprudence, judicial roles, Mexico In April 2007, Mexico City took the historic and unprecedented step of decriminalizing abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy, becoming the only Mexican state that does not punish women for this procedure. From April 2007 to August 2014, the Mexico City Ministry of Health has provided women with over 128,000 safe abor- tions, free of charge – including women coming from other Mexican states or even other countries. However, after the ruling in 2008 by the Mexican Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of the Mexico City law, 16 of the 32 Mexican states amended their constitutions so as to protect life from conception.* The effect of these amendments was to create an abysmal divide regarding access to safe abor- tion and women’s exercise of their reproductive rights between Mexican states, and place women’s right to reproductive autonomy at risk throughout the country. They have also led to an increased risk that women would be prosecuted for illegal abortion, even when a desired pregnancy has miscarried or the baby is stillborn. The Grupo de Información en Reproducción Elegida (GIRE), a Mexican non-governmental organization founded in 1992 to promote and defend women’s reproductive rights, is working to counteract the effects of these reforms via mutually reinforcing strategies. The organization educates government decision-makers from the legislative branch and works with the executive branch to implement public policy that directly impacts women’s lives. At the same time, GIRE *Baja California, Chiapas, Colima, Durango, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Morelos, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Sonora, Tamaulipas and Yucatán. Contents online: www.rhm-elsevier.com Doi: 10.1016/S0968-8080(14)44800-6 61