Abortion in Mexico
Some of you may have heard on the news about the abortion vote in Mexico City. Up until now, abortion all over Mexico was highly restricted. Only a minuscule number of abortions could be performed legally (such as when the mother’s life was in danger). As a matter of fact, in Latin America only two countries allow abortion on demand – Guyana and Cuba.
The new law, which won by a majority on the 24th of April, decriminalizes abortion, and funds killing the unborn baby that is up to 3 months old. It’s only legal in Mexico City, however. Women will nee to prove they are residents in order to have the procedure.
A lot of people are talking about the paradox of Mexico, a highly Roman Catholic country, legalizing abortion. The Roman Catholic Church stands strongly against abortion, but that stand seemed to have little effect on the vote. Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said,"I have a lot of respect for issues of faith. … But this is a case where the affairs of state reign."
If your God fits in a little box in a small corner of your life, is He really God? Of course, Ebrard used the ambigious word,"faith".
This was a sad prelude to Children’s Day, a big celebration in Mexico.
Mexico is an increasingly secular country that maintains a Roman Catholic culture. I was talking to a Mexican friend (and pastor), and he felt that the laws would continue to be loosened throughout Mexico, and that more abortions would become legal nationwide.
There are countless problems with the practice of abortion. I question why we can arbitrarily decide when a person becomes human. I question its impact on society. I question why mothers aren’t being taken care of properly, and why they often aren’t told the truth about abortion. I pray that the whole family, from conception to old age, will be cared for by the community and come to know a loving God.
29 April 2007 @ 8:01 pm
Amen, Jim. Excellent points.
On the flip side, a Prof of mine once mentioned something he had recently read in a book with a clever name (that I’ve forgotten). The author’s book routinely made strange connections between seemingly unrelated things. For instance: the decreasing crime rate in America and the legalization of abortion. The author said that because children who are aborted would probably grown up in un-nurturing enviroments (the same kind of environment that breeds criminals) the crime rate has decreased.
The ends doesn’t justify the means in my books, but at least there’s another side to the story. (Second-hand info, so take it for what it is. 🙂 )
30 April 2007 @ 7:17 am
You’re just trying to set me off, aren’t you? 😉
It sounds kind of like Minority Report – catch the criminals before they actually commit the crimes.
Of course, all throughout history people have tried that. Pharaoh with the Hebrews, Canada with the Canadian Japanese in WW2, even Hitler with the “enemies of the German people”, the Jews.
The argument fails to take so many things into consideration. It has no thought to whether or not the “solution” may be moral. It doesn’t consider the many many families that want to adopt. I have 100 questions about this so called “statistic” in the first place. WHat kind of crime are we talking about? What other factors are involved?
Even if the statistic were true, I suspect it would be short lived. Decrease the respect for life and family and community, and the effect will trickle into every area of life.
But in the end, even if it created the “perfect crime free community”, it wouldn’t be worth the death of the babies and the pain in the lives of the mothers and families.