Mexico ends federal ban on abortion, but patchwork of state restrictions remains

A Mexican Supreme Court ruling that invalidated all federal criminal penalties for abortion continued a regional trend of widening access to the procedure, but left in place a patchwork of varying state restrictions. The high court ordered Wednesday that abortion be removed from the federal penal code, and will require the federal public health service and all federal health institutions to offer abortion to anyone who requests it. That will mean access for millions of Mexicans. The social security service and other federal institutions provide health care to most people who work in the formal economy. Some 20 Mexican states still criminalize abortion.