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Mexico’s Supreme Court in Unanimous Ruling Strikes Ambiguous Wording From Zacatecas Forced-Abortion Law

The decision stems from a CNDH challenge with retroactive effect to December 1, 2024.

Overview

  • The court invalidated the phrase “con o sin el conocimiento de la víctima” from Article 311 Bis of the Zacatecas Penal Code, finding it violated legal certainty and penal specificity.
  • Reporting minister Yasmín Esquivel Mossa said the wording was imprecise about who qualifies as a victim and allowed arbitrary application.
  • Justices clarified that the victim in forced-abortion cases is the woman or person with capacity to gestate, underscoring protection from coercion.
  • The invalidation applies retroactively to the law’s entry into force on December 1, 2024, which could affect past and ongoing cases in the state.
  • In a related ruling, the court upheld aggravating penalties for so-called conversion therapies and struck an ambiguous phrase from Yucatán’s penal code.