Mexico City Reaches 47,000 Abortions after 42 Months of Legalization

From LifeSite News:

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent

MEXICO CITY, September 28, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Almost 47,000 unborn babies have died by surgical abortion in Mexico City during the three and a half years of its legalization, according to official statistics announced this week.  However, according to one federal legislator, the numbers are understated due to a lack of reporting by private clinics.

The figures were given to the Mexican press yesterday by Maricela Contreras Julián, a representative in the federal Chamber of Deputies who intends to introduce legislation requiring private abortion providers to report the number of times they perform the deadly procedure, on a daily basis.

"The objective is to have all of the information of all institutions, public or private, that practice abortions in Mexico City, because there is an underreporting of the abortions that are practiced in private clinics, which have proliferated in recent years with the reforms that the Legislative Assembly approved in the last legislature," Contreras said.

The statistics offered by Contreras indicate that the abortion rate in government clinics has reached approximately 16,000 per year, and is often being used by unmarried women to avoid the consequences of their sexual behavior. The vast majority of abortions (70%) are performed on girls between the ages of 18 and 29, and only 17% are married.

Rocio Galvez of Mexico's National Pro-Life Committee estimates there may be as many as 5,000 more abortions per year in private institutions, bringing the total to 21,000 annually.

Approximately 40 percent of women who inquire about abortions at government agencies never obtain one, in part because the Mexico City government informs women of the option to give birth at government expense, and to place their children in adoption.  However, abortions are also government financed, and can be obtained for any reason during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.

Since the passage of Mexico City's abortion law in 1997, seventeen Mexican states have passed right to life amendments to their constitutions prohibiting the procedure.