The last frontier: legal abortion despite the ban

At least 13 entities this summer in the United States made acces to abortions illegal, which for decades had been carried out throughout the American Union, and now are completely restricted, until the setback occurred in the case of Roe vs. Wade, a historic controversy that has practically dealt a serious blow to the freedom and sexual health of at least 36 million women in our neighboring country. This has meant a new meaning for the traditional conception of the border, and now more than ever, there is an attempt to overcome it in order to proceed with legal abortion despite the prohibition.

The most dangerous frontiers: Mental ones

Although the mere idea of crossing the border from the United States into Mexico for any reason arouses a series of doubts, fears, and prejudices, we have to speak from a very neutral and interesting perspective: from the ban on abortion in the United States and its main conservative and restrictive core, Texas, more than 10 organizations, collectives and women’s aid and assistance groups emerged with rarely seen spontaneity and speed.

Regarding how safe and easy it is to cross the border to receive an LTP (Legal Termination of Pregnancy), we have some encouraging news. Thanks to social networks and messaging services on smartphones, the most dangerous borders have been crossed: the mental ones.

Women organized to support other women

What we are witnessing at a digital level and with a very discreet visibility, undoubtedly, is the beginning of a cross-border network to protect the women’s right to decide. Perhaps the most unique case is that of “La aborteria” in the City of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. What began as a group of women organized to support other women outside of Mexico seeking to freely exercise their right to abortion with a very unique name: “I need to abort” has become a benchmark in terms of remote accompaniment and support for many women across the border. They have received more and more calls for help from women who cannot access an abortion in the United States, especially in Texas, but also from Arizona, Kansas, Ohio, Indianapolis and Louisiana.

The Mexican model is a trend once again

In the United States, before the drastic change in the law, practically all abortions were done in clinics, and the North Americans didn’t know that the model with medicines that the Mexicans have been adopting since the legalization of abortion [from what you can know more here]. It surprises us, but it also fills us with pride that the Mexican model is once again a trend, now to know, inform and allow more women to terminate their pregnancy. Apparently, there´s still a lot of cross-border exchange and assistance between women to happen and develop further, can politicians and public officials learn something from this subtle lesson?

A condition that does not beat us: the law of the heartbeat: S.B. 8

Within the modifications and regulations that the prohibition of abortion in the United States has brought with it, there´s a causal that attempts in a singular way with what in Mexico has been

completely overcome. It turns out that in the State of Texas something known as the “heartbeat law” or S.B. 8 (Senate Bill 8) came into force, which prohibits abortion from six weeks of gestation, since that is when the heartbeat of the embryo can be detected in a pregnancy, regardless of whether it´s the product of a case of rape or incest. And although this condition does not “beat” us at all, by being a law, it has led more and more women to seek to cross the border to achieve their purpose of not continuing with a pregnancy that puts their lives at risk, that of their future child or simply do not want to complete.

Self-managed abortion: inside and outside the border

The way in which groups such as Red Necesito Abortar, Las Libres or Marea Verde Chihuahua support women outside and inside the border who contact them for help, is through the World Health Organization (WHO) safe abortion manual, which although it is available anywhere, the same is not the case with the drugs to carry it out, which are increasingly difficult to obtain, because in the United States no one can access them, since they are not sold without a prescription and, because of the “law of the heartbeat” after 6 weeks of gestation, it is practically a crime.

In addition, abortion in clinics has become extremely expensive and inaccessible to the majority of women. It´s for this reason that the aforementioned groups, and many others in Mexico, help women to abort with Misoprostol, a drug to prevent ulcers but whose use to end pregnancies is supported by the WHO and the Federation International Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), so self-managed abortion can be done at home, with the presence of someone you trust who can take the person who performs it to the hospital if necessary.

The other border: the southeast, the tenth Mexican state to legalize abortion:

However, despite this scenario, all is not lost and on the contrary, we close this note with good news for Mexican women. On Wednesday, October 26th of this year, the Quintana Roo Congress approved with 19 votes in favor and 3 against, several reforms to the local Criminal Code to allow women and pregnant individuals to decide on the interruption of pregnancy until the 12th gestation week.

The importance of this legislative decision is that it has eliminated the prerequisite of filing a complaint in order to access abortion in the case of rape. Another notable aspect of this decree is that of considering anyone with a female reproductive system, that is, capable of gestating, regardless of their age, physical appearance or sexual orientation, to be a pregnant individual.

After all this journey through the new panorama of what the border implies, we want to leave you with this incisive and enlightening phrase from the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze, that says:

“There is no place for fear, nor for hope. Searching new weapons is the only option left”.

References:

1. Aborto en Estados Unidos: el mapa que muestra dónde ya está prohibido y qué otros estados lo restringirán tras la sentencia de la Corte Suprema. [Internet]. Consulted in Noviembre 2022. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-internacional-61806681

2. La frontera entre un delito y un derecho: el modelo mexicano para abortar en casa cruza a Estados Unidos. [Internet]. Consulted in Noviembre 2022. Available at:: https://elpais.com/mexico/2022-06-06/la-frontera-entre-un-delito-y-un-derecho-el-modelo-mexicano-para-abortar-en-casa-cruza-a-estados-unidos.html

3. Red Necesito Abortar. [Internet]. Consulted in Noviembre 2022. Available at: https://www.necesitoabortar.mx/

4. Buscas un aborto. [Internet]. Consulted in Noviembre 2022. Available at: https://laslibres.org.mx/2022/buscas-un-aborto/

5. Las mujeres en EE.UU. que tienen que buscar ayuda en México para abortar. [Internet]. Consulted in Noviembre 2022. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-61473371

6. Las texanas buscan ayuda en farmacias fronterizas y redes feministas para abortar. [Internet]. Consulted in Noviembre 2022. Available at: https://efeminista.com/texanas-farmacias-fronterizas-aborto/

Quintana Roo se suma a los estados que ya despenalizaron el aborto. [Internet]. Consulted in Noviembre 2022. Available at: https://ipasmexico.org