MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican women on Saturday marched for abortion rights, highlighting increased efforts across Latin America to lift some of the world's most restrictive abortion laws.
Efforts to legalize abortion have emerged in the region as some societies become more liberal and the Roman Catholic Church loses sway amid clerical sex abuse cases. Mexico City, along with Cuba and Uruguay, are the only places in the region where women can undergo abortions during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy regardless of the circumstances.
Last week, legislators in the poor southern Mexican state of Oaxaca voted to also decriminalize abortion. Abortion rights marchers in Mexico City clamored Saturday for the entire country to decriminalize abortion.
"The patriarchy will fall!" protesters chanted.
Most demonstrators were peaceful, but a small number set fires and vandalized property. Police and firefighters put out the blazes.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights, 97% of women in Latin America and the Caribbean live in countries with restrictive abortion laws. Six countries - the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua and Suriname - do not allow abortion under any circumstances.
During 2010-2014, the institute estimates that 6.5 million induced abortions occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean. That translates to a rate of 44 per 1,000 women of reproductive age. About 760,000 women in the region are treated each year for complications from unsafe abortions.
Here are some key facts and figures for specific countries:
MEXICO
In Mexico, Oaxaca state on Wednesday became the second jurisdiction — joining Mexico City — to allow elective abortions during the first trimester. Only abortion in cases of rape is legal in all of Mexico. Some states make exceptions for unviable fetuses, or when the mother's life is in danger, but women who miscarry or intentionally terminate pregnancies have sometimes been jailed for murder.
The majority of abortions practiced in Mexico are clandestine. Since 2007, women in Mexico City may opt for abortions within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The Mexico City Health Ministry says more than 200,000 legal abortions have been performed in the capital over the past 12 years.
CENTRAL AMERICA
Three Central American countries have total bans on abortion: El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras. Women in these countries also face a high incidence of sexual assault and unwanted pregnancies.
El Salvador stands out for its aggressive prosecution for suspected abortions. More than a dozen women are in jail for abortion, some serving sentences of up to 40 years. Such punishments often fall on poor, young women and victims of rape. The country also prosecutes health service providers believed to have assisted in abortions. Women who show up to hospitals following miscarriages or botched abortions are sometimes turned over by health care providers for investigation and prosecution.