Earlier this month legislatures in the state of Guanajuato passed a bill blocking women’s access to abortion even in cases of rape. Through the relentless efforts of women’s rights and abortion rights protesters coordinated by 29 year-old Veronica Cruz Sanchez, the bill will be overturned and not become law. Also, the move to overturn the bill signals that president-elect Vicente Fox and the National Action Party (PAN) are forced to cautiously draft and consider national policies independent of the Roman Catholic Church. Members of Mexico’s Roman Catholic Archdiocese have stated that “even on the case of pregnancy that is the result of rape, we must ask the woman to accept the mysterious designs of God.” Women’s rights and abortion rights advocates have suspected that this argument of the Roman Catholic Church greatly influenced legislatures of Guanajuato and members of PAN to create restrictions to abortions in cases of rape.
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