MEXICO:Politicians in Mexico City have voted to legalise abortion, in a move expected to influence policies and health practices across Mexico and the rest of Latin America.
The proposal, approved yesterday by 46 votes to 19 with one abstention, will take effect when the mayor signs it.
But abortion opponents have already vowed to appeal the law to the Supreme Court, which will extend the bitter and emotional debate in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation.
"Decriminalising abortion is a historic triumph, a triumph of the left," said city legislator Jorge Diaz Cuervo, a social democrat who voted for the Bill. "Today, there is a new atmosphere in this city. It is the atmosphere of freedom."
Nationally, Mexico allows abortion only in cases of rape, severe birth defects or if the woman's life is at risk. Doctors, however, sometimes refuse to perform the procedure even under those circumstances.
The new law will require city hospitals to provide the procedure in the first trimester and opens the way for private abortion clinics. Girls under 18 would have to get their parents' consent.
The procedure will be almost free for poor or insured city residents. Under the Mexico City law, abortion after 12 weeks would be punished by three to six months in jail.
Mexico City is dominated by the left-wing Democratic Revolution Party, at odds with President Félipe Calderón's conservative National Action Party, which opposed the abortion measure.
The only other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean which have legalised abortion for all women are Cuba and Guyana. Most others allow it only in cases of rape or when the woman's life is at risk.
Nicaragua, El Salvador and Chile ban it completely.
Recent newspaper polls showed that a majority of Mexico City residents support legalised abortions, at least in the first weeks of pregnancy. - (AP)