The practice of abortion in Veracruz is legalbut the lack of information and the obstacles that the health personnel public causes women to have difficulties accessing the service and to look for other ways to do so. Currently, the Penal Code of the state of considers abortion legal up to 12 weeksas well as for rape, danger to the mother’s health or malformations of the fetus (with no time limit for these causes), but reality exceeds legal provisions, since public health entities do not guarantee the right of women to interrupt a unwanted pregnancy.
Sofia lives in Mendoza City and I knew I had the right to terminate your pregnancy, so he went to the Health Jurisdiction in his area to request reports, but the doctor on duty denied him the service, and even told him that it was not legal to do so. Faced with the refusal, the loss of time and the uncertainty, he sought to perform the procedure elsewhere. He paid nearly six thousand pesos for go to the Mexico City to have a medical abortion in a private clinic in the city. Although he raised the necessary money through work, he wonders what happens to a woman who does not have the financial resources.
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In Veracruz The legal change came through civil society mobilizations. The strategy they used was through a Gender Violence Alert due to Comparative Grievance (emergency mechanism contained in the General Law of Access for Women to a Life Free of Violence), maintaining that the state’s public policies violated the human rights of women.
Since abortion is legal in Veracruz, July 20, 2021, 567 pregnancy terminations have been performed. Of this total, 45 were in 2021; 292 last year, (279 before 12 weeks and 13 to rape victims) and 230 in 2023 (219 before 12 weeks and 11 to rape victims).
These official statistics do not include those women who have had an abortion seeking other means, like Nadia, who preferred to go with a group of women to help her in the process, because due to fear and lack of information she did not go to the sector. health: “ever since I found out I was pregnant, I panicked and knew I had to make a decision… I approached the community, I felt supported and cared for, because they understood my situation and that made me calm. They helped me a lot by telling me what would be the best method to do it and although they knew I was afraid, they were always watching out for me,” she said.
Luz María Reyes, from the collective Green Tide of Orizaba, stated that many women prefer to seek out organizations to avoid revictimization in the health sector. Therefore, collectives and organizations in Veracruz They have support programs to carry out the procedure, some help them access the public sector service, others choose to provide them with the pills or guide them through the process independently.
“Our duty as companions, if a woman contacts us who has the possibility of going to some clinic In order to be attended to, it is necessary to inform them of the protocol to follow, but most of them prefer to continue the procedure with us, precisely out of mistrust and fear. Women who decide to go to the health center sometimes return to request support or because in the hospital there is no medicines or for the lack of ethics of health personnel”.
These treatments towards women who desire abort they happen even though in Veracruz exists the State Safe Abortion Program, which indicates the steps that must be followed to access an abortion: go to any health center, from there the applicants will be channeled to the place where the procedure will be performed, the process will be done through pills and only, if necessary, It will be through manual intrauterine aspiration; In addition, it specifies the way in which health sector personnel should conduct themselves.
However, the program is not respected and cases occur such as those of Sofía, who was denied care, or the women who have come with Green Tide, in Orizabaor to other groups, who have accused that the medical staff treats them poorly.
Even the director of the Equifonía Civil Association, Adriana Fuentes Manzo, stated that the State Safe Abortion Program requires modificationssince it does not specify how to proceed when it comes to women or girls who are victims of rape or in cases that exceed 12 weeks of gestation.
Regarding data on termination of pregnancy, the Health Secretary has contradictory information. When asked about the number of hospitals and clinics where procedures are performed or the number of staff doctornotes that There is no record of the number of medical personnel who are conscientious objectorswhile in another document it indicates that they are 78 people who can practice itand in another it is 66.
The number of hospitals also varies, in one document states that there are 48, in another 66 and in another 56; while in the Services directory Safe Abortion of the State Health Services of the federal Ministry of Health, It is reported that there are only seven hospitals.
Even though the number of hospitals and clinics is correct, They are insufficient. González Saavedra stated that there are places in Veracruz where women and girls have to travel for long hours to get to a place to be treated, when they finally arrive, the health personnel are busy increasing the women’s fear by exaggerating the possible risks. risks, without respecting what the Safe Abortion Program, as reported by Reyes Huerta, a member of the Green Tide collective.
He Rio Blanco Hospital is the only place to where women from the Sierra de Zongolica can goan area of high marginalization and high rates of infant pregnancies.
The program of Safe Abortion in Veracruz has a state and federal budget. In 2022 it exercised a budget of 1.2 million pesosthrough the Gender Violence and Safe Abortion Program of Branch 12 (federal budget), as well as 3.9 million pesos from the state budget of the Safe Abortion Program, according to the information request 301153823000124. Although the resources do not respond to the needs, since in 2021, when abortion was not yet legal, they counted with one million 78 thousand pesos for the purchase of medicines and in 2022, when the service already had to be provided, 994 thousand 807 pesos were allocated.
To the question Where would you have an abortion? Adriana responded: “I would look for a private clinic.” She is from the municipality of Veracruz and argued that she has the resources, in addition to not knowing how to access public services and, she presumes, it would be difficult.
Fuentes Manzo, a member of Equifonía, stated that one of the main obstacles to accessing a legal and safe abortionis the lack of information campaigns from the Ministry of Health so that women know their rights.
In contrast, the Ministry of Health claims to carry out campaigns on safe abortion. In response to a request for information, the institution provided us with a poster, two postcards, a flyer and a brochure, to show that information is provided about safe abortion. However, these materials are not visible in hospitals, health centers or on their social networks. One activist commented: “Visiting some jurisdictions I found posters about vaccines, about Pap smears, about breast exams, but nothing related to pregnancy termination.”“The less information we have, the better it is for everyone because we know that it is an uncomfortable topic.”
For Fuentes Mazo “(…) one of the things that is missing is to send a message that informs about the health centers that women can go to, provide information that the service is available, that it is gratuitousthat attention must respect the women’s human rights and guarantee women’s health”.
From the materials provided by the Health Secretary, There is only one phone number for safe abortion care.. When calling, and before providing any information, they request personal information (name, age, telephone number, address and the reasons for making the interruption), then inform them that an appointment will be scheduled at a hospital or indicate the steps to follow if there is another health service, but they warn that the IMSS is denying the service and, therefore, the centers of the Health Secretary.
Homero Arroniz, representative of Social Communication of the IMSS North delegation, When faced with a request for abortion, he responded in a document on the institute’s letterhead that “the Federal penal code does not contemplate the figure of discretionary abortion“, hence “It would NOT be possible to favorably respond to your request for termination of pregnancy”. In the case of ISSSTEthe managers refused to give interviews on the subject, arguing that it was a federal matter.
Faced with these refusals to provide safe abortion services, Veracruz activists promoted various protections for beneficiaries of the IMSS and of ISSSTE, seeking to determine that it is a right. At the time of going to press, the authorities of both institutions did not respond to the request for information.
The Information and Chosen Reproduction Group (GIRE) indicated that the IMSShe ISSSTE and other federal entities should provide the service.
Currently, the Safe Abortion Program in Veracruz requests, to perform an abortion in state institutions, a certificate of non-entitlement, that is, that it is not affiliated with another health system, since in the case of having this service, You must go to the corresponding clinic and request it in writing.
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The process of accessing legal termination of pregnancy is long and burdensome for many women, who do not know how to do it and continue with an unwanted pregnancy without having access to a legal, safe and free abortion provided by a public entity, as Veracruz law dictates.
This report was produced with the support of the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) as part of its Reproductive Rights, Health and Justice in the Americas initiative.
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