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Abortion legalised in Mexico City Abortion legalised in Mexico City
(about 1 hour later)
Mexico City's legislative assembly has voted to legalise abortion in the city, the capital of the world's second-largest Roman Catholic country.Mexico City's legislative assembly has voted to legalise abortion in the city, the capital of the world's second-largest Roman Catholic country.
New legislation will permit abortions of pregnancies in the first trimester, or 12 weeks, but only in Mexico City. Lawmakers voted 46 to 19 in favour of the bill that will permit abortions of pregnancies in the first 12 weeks.
Mexico City previously allowed abortion only in cases of rape, if the woman's life was at risk or if there were signs of severe defects in the foetus.Mexico City previously allowed abortion only in cases of rape, if the woman's life was at risk or if there were signs of severe defects in the foetus.
Opponents of the abortion law have said they will challenge it in the courts.Opponents of the abortion law have said they will challenge it in the courts.
Mexico City lawmakers voted 46 to 19 in favour of the bill.
Church concernsChurch concerns
The decision comes despite huge pressure from the Roman Catholic Church. The Vatican has expressed its concern at the change in the law. The BBC's Duncan Kennedy, in Mexico City, says that for years groups wanting to increase the rights of women have campaigned for change while conservative forces in the Catholic Church and elsewhere have fought to keep the practice outlawed.
Prior to the vote, opinion polls in Mexico, where the population is 90% Catholic, indicated that people were evenly split on the issue. The abortion vote split Mexico's population, which is 90% Catholic, and prompted a letter last week from Pope Benedict XVI urging Mexican bishops to oppose it.
Authors of the draft law pointed out that at least 1,500 women have died in Mexico over the last decade as a result of illegal abortions performed in unhygienic backstreet clinics. Prior to the vote, riot police kept rival demonstrators apart as they hurled insults at each other outside the assembly building.
Many victims of rape are denied access to legal abortion, Human Rights Watch said in a report last year. There are an estimated 200,000 illegal abortions in Mexico each year.
Of women who opt for illegal procedures, at least 1,500 women die during botched operations performed in unhygienic backstreet clinics.
Many victims of rape are denied access to legal abortion, a Human Rights Watch report said last year.
The Mexico City assembly has courted controversy in Mexico before: it recently voted to allow same-sex civil unions and is currently considering legalising euthanasia.The Mexico City assembly has courted controversy in Mexico before: it recently voted to allow same-sex civil unions and is currently considering legalising euthanasia.