Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled on Sept 6 that criminal penalties for terminating a pregnancy are unconstitutional, effectively decriminalizing abortion in federal health facilities across the country. 'The First Chamber of #TheCourt has ruled that the juridical system that penalizes abortion in the Federal Criminal Code is unconstitutional because it violates the human rights of women and people with the capacity for pregnancy,' the Court tweeted in Spanish following the decision. The decision also stipulates that all federal health institutions across Mexico must offer abortion care. The move means more than 70% of women in Mexico will be able to legally access abortion, according to the Information Group on Reproductive Choice. The sweeping decision comes 2 years after the first Mexican state ruled against criminalizing abortions. In the wake of that first decision, 11 other states followed suit. This Supreme Court ruling, however, legalizes the procedure across all 32. The 20 states that hadn’t previously decriminalized it will now have to adjust their penal codes under the new ruling. Mexico’s progress in expanding abortion access in recent years is hugely significant, given how conservative the entire Latin American region has historically stood on the issue. An abortion rights activist named Verónica Cruz told CNN last year that she was surprised to see Mexico 'going forward, [while] the U.S. is going backward.' #mexico #abortion #reproductivechoice #news - @nowthisimpact