Campaign: Young Mexican women must make politicians respect reproductive rights

A new outreach campaign urges young Mexican women to put reproductive rights on the national political agenda.

With elections on the horizon in Mexico, the National Alliance for the Right to Decide (Alianza Nacional por el Derecho a Decidir or andar) is trying to mobilize young women to go to the polls and put reproductive rights on political candidates’ radars.

On July 2, Mexicans will vote for a new president, 500 representatives for its federal Chamber of Deputies and another 120 senators.

With so many political seats up for grabs, andar coordinator and Ipas policy consultant Fernanda Diaz de leon says Mexico’s young people have the numbers to make a difference. The median age in the country is 24, and that youthful demographic means millions of people who are of voting age.

So in May, andar launched its “Even when women vote, they have no choice” campaign — a reference to the fact that women can help pick politicians but, in Mexico, they often aren’t allowed to make decisions about their own bodies. Abortion is heavily restricted, and in cases of rape — where abortion is permitted — women and girls have to fight bureaucratic hurdles to end pregnancies that were not their choices, either.

The campaign does not endorse candidates, but is encouraging young people, especially women, to inform themselves and hold candidates accountable for their positions on reproductive rights.

Its media efforts include a radio spot that aired on several major stations and posters that will be placed in university buildings, subway cars and youth hangouts.

While the campaign is going where the youth are, Diaz de leon said “the main problem is getting them to vote because that group usually participates the least in electoral processes.”

But adolescents and young adults feel the brunt of laws that limit access to reproductive-health services. And the outcome of these races will undoubtedly determine future policies that can improve or limit Mexicans’ access to reproductive freedoms.

Diaz de leon said: “Senators and deputies propose laws and approve them, so if we can vote for certain parties, we are voting for the platforms and the party’s commitment to reproductive issues.”

For instance, outgoing president Vicente Fox’s PAN (Partido Acción Nacional or the National Action Party) says it wants to protect life from conception, but the PRD (Partido de la Revolución Democrática or Party for a Democratic Revolution) has a commitment to guarantee reproductive rights.

“On the other side, the president appoints all ministers in the federal government and can appoint either liberal or conservative persons to the Ministry of Health, for example. Also, the president has the right to veto laws,” said Diaz de leon.

As of yet, reproductive rights and freedoms have not surfaced as a major issue for the presidential hopefuls. But the only woman in the five-way race, Patricia Mercado Castro, has voiced her support for reproductive rights, including abortion. Another candidate, conservative PAN leader Felipe Calderón, suggested that he would support removing emergency contraception (medications that prevent pregnancy if taken shortly after unprotected intercourse) from the Mexican Ministry of Health’s basic medicines list

For more information, contact:
Kirsten Sherk
Senior Associate, Media Relations
e-mail: sherkk@ipas.org
phone: 919.960.5612
fax: 919.929.0258