Mexico City lawmakers will vote today on whether to legalize abortion in the capital of the world's second-largest Roman Catholic country. The abortion law, likely to be passed by the city's left-leaning assembly, would apply only to the capital and limit the termination of pregnancies to the first trimester. Federal legislators also have filed a proposal in Congress for a national abortion law. Mexico City lawmakers have recently voted to allow gay civil unions and considered permitting euthanasia, but the abortion issue has split Mexico.

Supporters of abortion, who are well-represented in the capital, say 2,000 women die unnecessarily each year in Mexico – often poor women who have to resort to unhygienic “back alley” clinics. In Latin America, only Cuba, Guyana and US commonwealth Puerto Rico allow abortion on demand. Some nations like Mexico and Brazil permit it in special cases, including after rape, if the fetus has defects or if the mother's life is at risk.

Main Source: Reuters