Overview

• In a September 30 ruling, the SCJN invalidated part of Article 311 Bis of Zacatecas’s Penal Code concerning the crime of forced abortion.
• The decision targets the phrase “con o sin el conocimiento de la víctima,” which ministers said created legal uncertainty and risked arbitrary application.
• The case reached the high court through Action of Unconstitutionality 189/2024 filed by the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH).
• Reporting minister Yasmín Esquivel cited ambiguity over who qualifies as a victim, while Chief Justice Hugo Aguilar Ortiz and Minister Arístides Rodrigo Guerrero warned the wording could undermine reproductive autonomy.
• The ruling takes retroactive effect to December 1, 2024, once notified to the state congress, preserving the offense of forced abortion but clarifying its contours.