Mexican state decriminalizes abortion; Catholics who support it excommunicated, bishop says
Historic center of San Francisco de Campeche, capital of the Mexican state of Campeche in the country’s Yucatán Peninsula. / Credit: Ralf Roletschek, GFDL 1.2, via Wikimedia Commons Puebla, Mexico, Feb 27, 2025 / 16:10 pm (CNA).
Following the Feb. 25 decriminalization of abortion for up to 12 weeks of pregnancy in the Mexican state of Campeche, Bishop José Francisco González of the Diocese of Campeche warned that those who promote and facilitate the practice — including women, doctors, and legislators — will be excommunicated from the Catholic Church.
The abortion decriminalization measure, promoted by Campeche state’s Human Rights Commission, was passed Feb. 24 in a closed session of the state congress. According to the organic law of the unicameral legislature, lawmakers are prohibited from revealing how they voted.
With this reform, articles 155, 157, 158, and 159 of the Penal Code of Campeche are modified, allowing the “interruption of pregnancy” within the first 12 weeks and establishing more severe penalties for those who force a woman to have an abortion.
Campeche is now the 21st Mexican state to decriminalize abortion. Since Oct. 1, 2024, when Claudia Sheinbaum became president of Mexico and with her MORENA Party having majority control, eight state legislatures have followed the same route.
During the first 148 days of Sheinbaum’s term in office, Jalisco, Michoacán, San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas, Mexico, Chiapas, Nayarit, and Chihuahua states have decriminalized abortion for up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. Altogether, two-thirds of the country’s states have legalized abortion.
Decriminalization means state laws against abortion remain in effect but it is unpunishable for the period of time specified.
‘Those who support abortion’ are excommunicated
During a Feb. 26 press conference, González described the decision as “incomprehensible” from a legal and social point of view, given that the vote was held “behind closed doors” and in the middle of Carnival, one of the most important festivals in the state.
The prelate pointed out that the Code of Canon Law establishes that those who support abortion “are as a matter of practice outside of communion with the Church. That is, those who promote it, those who carry it out, and those who collaborate cannot participate in the sacraments.”
He specifically warned that those who promoted this law who are Catholics and who support abortion “should not participate in the sacraments.” The prelate invited them to “reconsider and to rediscover their Catholic faith.”
Abortion, a ‘particularly serious and ignominious’ crime
The bishop reiterated that “among all the crimes that man can commit against life, procured abortion presents characteristics that make it particularly serious and ignominious.” He therefore called for the formation of a pro-life front, since life “should not be protected only by the mother, who carries [the child] in her womb, or by the father, who has procreated it, but by the whole society.”
González warned that if abortion is justified on the grounds that the unborn child is unwanted, “later on, society — and we are not far away — will propose doing something similar with children already born who do not behave well, or who are sickly, or who are facing a disability” as well as with the sick and elderly. “Finally, no life will be respected, for whatever reason it can be cut short,” he added.
“Are there really concrete actions and policies to support pregnant women who want to become mothers? Is there support for elderly women who suffer from loneliness and illness? Is there support for mothers who suffer from the effects of alcoholism in one of their children or husbands? And what help do women with cancer or dialysis have? Is there help for women to get training and make their way in the challenging situations of modern life?” the prelate asked.
Finally, González said the Church will work on various actions to counteract the legalization of abortion in the state, reaffirming its commitment to the protection of life from conception.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
