Overview

Shadow Report and Executive Summary MEXICO 60th Pre-Sessional WG (27 February-3 March 2017) Mexico adopted a federal form of government with the power to legislate shared by the federal government and 31 states. As a result many policies in the area of freedom research are fragmented unless there are regulated by federal law. Abortion is a perfect example: abortion is offered on request to any woman up to twelve weeks into a pregnancy in Mexico City, but forbidden in 18 out of 31 Mexican state constitutions, which define a fertilized egg as a person with a right to legal protection. State constitutions were rewritten as a result of a 2008 ruling of the Supreme Court, which concluded that any state could legalize abortion. As a result, while between 2007 and 2011 52,484 interruptions were carried out in the capital city, more than a dozen women have been sentenced to up to 30 years in prison in conservative-leaning states. In 2017, the International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion published an extensive report on the current conditions of access to abortion. The regulation of emergency contraceptives is on the other had liberal. Emergency contraceptive are in the Essential Medicines list and women can purchase them in a pharmacy without requiring a prescription or find them at health centers and services attending female victims of rape. Mifepristone has been available since 2011. Similarly euthanasia laws are a patchwork. Terminally ill patients—or closest relatives, if unconscious—have a right to refuse treatment in Mexico City and the state of Aguascalientes and Michoacán. Legislative efforts to legalize active euthanasia have failed. Bills were introduced in 2007 and 2009 but both have failed to change the Article 166 bis 21 of the General Health Law, which defines euthanasia as mercy homicide. The legal status of euthanasia and abortion is the result of influence by the Catholic Church. Nonetheless, regional bills supporting passive euthanasia have been endorsed by several Catholic clergymen. The regulation of assisted reproduction and embryo research are more permissive. Assisted reproduction became available during the mid-eighties. Since then, the industry has developed and flourished within a context of little regulation partly because of reproductive tourism from the United States fueled by the lower cost of treatment in Mexico. Some limitations however persist. Only married women have access to insemination, and spousal permission is needed. Same-sex couples cannot access ART, even though gay couples enjoy right to adopt in Mexico City since 2009, a right reinforced by the preliminary ruling of the Supreme Court sanctioning same-sex married couples’ right to adopt. With regard to the use of embryos in research, pre-embryos cannot be used for experimental purposes but using supernumerary embryos and somatic cell nuclear transfer are lawful. FURTHER READINGS: Abortion GIRE (Grupo de Información en Reproducción Elegida), 2017. Causales de Aborto en Códigos Penales Estatales. https://gire.org.mx/consultations/causales-de-aborto-en-codigos-penales-estatales/ Sarah Faithful, 2016. Mexico’s choice: abortion laws and their effects throughout Latin America. 28 September 2016. Council on Hemispheric Affairshttp://www.coha.org/mexicos-choice-abortion-laws-and-their-effects-throughout-latin-america/
Aabortion

Abortion

75 pts out of 100 / 90,00% complete

75 pts

Abortion and contraception allow women to express their freedom of reproduction by exercising their right of self-determination over their bodies.


Measurement questions

Is abortion lawful to protect woman's life?

Yes

Is abortion lawful to protect woman's physical health?

Yes

Is abortion lawful to protect woman's mental health?

Yes

Is abortion lawful in the event the woman was raped?

Yes

Is abortion lawful in the event of fetal defects?

Yes

Does the law mandate that an abortion is performed at the mere request of a pregnant woman?

No

Is RU-486 (Mifepristone) approved or registered for use?

Yes and it is available with prescription

Are emergency contraception drugs lawfully available?

Yes, from a pharmacist without requiring a prescription

Are family planning services provided through government-run programs and facilities?

Yes, directly

Is spousal notification/permission required?

Assisted reproduction

Assisted Reproduction

50 pts out of 100 / 100,00% complete

50 pts

Assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) are the methods used to achieve pregnancy by artificial or partially artificial means. Access to assisted reproduction concerns our ability to expand our right to health by offering us access to treatment to overcome infertility.


Measurement questions

Is preimplantation genetic diagnosis permissible?

No

Is oocyte cryopreservation permissible?

Yes

Is embryo cryopreservation permissible for reproductive purposes?

Yes

Is sperm donation permissible?

Yes

Is oocyte donation permissible?

Yes

Are IVF surrogacy agreements enforceable?

Not mentioned and status unknown

Marital status requirements?

Stable relationship at minimum

Do same-sex couples have access to ART?

No

Do single women have access to ART?

No

Are there any limits on the number of pre-embryos that can be transferred?

Yes

End Off Life

End of life

60 pts out of 100 / 100,00% complete

60 pts

End of life decisions concern our ability to make choices concerning the end of our lives and take of the form of refusal of life sustaining treatment, being help in committing suicide, choosing euthanasia, and make choices that must be upheld even when the person becomes unconscious. As Young (2010) noted, "People have an interest in making important decisions about their lives in accordance with their own conception of how they want their lives to go."


Measurement questions

Is passive euthanasia lawful?

Yes

Is active euthanasia lawful?

Legally prohibited

Is physician-assisted suicide lawful?

Legally prohibited

Are advance directives (AD) enforceable?

Yes

Is a physician required to respect a patient's refusal of life-sustaining treatment?

Yes

Research With Embryo

Research with embryos

46 pts out of 100 / 100,00% complete

46 pts

Research with embryos and pre-embryos as well as therapeutic cloning concerns scientists’ freedom to investigate human biology as well as patients’ freedom to access regenerative medicine treatments that may be developed as a result of research with human embryonic stem cells. Since the early 2000s, research with embryos has been at the center of an often-polarized debate about the nature and scope of scientific freedom.


Measurement questions

Is basic research using germline modification in human embryos/gametes permitted?

Only permitted on IVF embryos (if research benefits that embryo)

Is pre-clinical research using germline modification technologies in animals permitted?

Yes

Is clinical research using germline modification technologies in humans permitted?

Restricted

Are clinical applications of research using germline modification technologies (i.e., to initiate a pregnancy with edited embryos or with edited gametes) permitted?

Restricted

GM Crops

GM Crops

60 pts out of 100 / 100,00% complete

60 pts

GM crops have contributed significantly to modern agriculture. Plant breeding using genetic modification techniques has led to improving crops in more targeted ways than classical breeding techniques. GM crops acquire desirable characteristics, including pest and herbicide resistance, enhanced robustness against diseases, drought or water tolerance, and healthier profiles that can enhance nutrition.


Measurement questions

Is research on GMOs permitted in the laboratories?

Yes

Is notification to start research on GMOs in laboratories required?

Yes

Is research on GMOs frequent?

No

Are GM crop field trials (the limited release into the environment for research purposes) permitted?

Yes

Is authorization to start a GM crop field trial required?

Yes/prohibited

Are GM crop field trials frequent?

No/prohibited

Is cultivation of GM crops (for commercial purposes) in open field permitted?

Yes

Is authorization to start open field cultivation of GM crops required?

Yes/prohibited

Is open field cultivation of GM crops frequent?

No/prohibited

Can GM crop commodities harvested in other countries be imported?

Yes

Is authorization to import GM crop commodities required?

Yes/prohibited

Is the import of GM crop commoties frequent?

No/prohibited

Right To Science Indicators

Right To Science Indicators


Measurement questions

- Access to benefits

What is the total general government expenditure on education?

19.1

What is the expenditure on tertiary as % of government expenditure on education?

21.32

What is the the percentage of population ages 25 and over that attained or completed a doctoral degree or equivalent?

What is the percentage of population that uses the Internet?

59.54

What is the quality of math and science education on a scale from 1 to 7 being "excellent"?

2.9

To what extent is the Internet used in schools for learning purposes?

3.9

What is the scientific literacy of 15-year-old students as measured by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)(mean score)?

416

- Opportunities to participate

Does the law mandate nondiscrimination based on gender in hiring?

Yes

What is the percentage of females employed with advanced degrees out of total employed?

24

- Enabling environment

How many scientific and technical journal articles are published each year in physics, biology, chemistry, mathematics, clinical medicine, biomedical research, engineering and technology, and earth and space sciences?

14529.4

What is the percentage of GDP allocated to Research and Development?

0.55

How may published articles have received at least H citations in the period 1996–2014?

26.8

What is the quality of scientific research institutions?

4.3

To what extent do business and universities collaborate on research and development (R&D)?

3.6

What is the average university ranking score of countries based on their top 3 universities?

41.6

To what extent are scientists and engineers available?

4.2

How many professionals are employed as researchers?

0.7

How many professionals are employed by government as researchers?

24.3

- International cooperation

To what extent are talented people attracted from abroad?

3.5

Recent News about Mexico

Mexico City legalizes right to euthanasia

Mexico City has become the first entity within Mexico to legalize euthanasia, after the issue was approved Wednesday by the city’s constitutional assembly.  “This is a law that is moving forward in many countries. We also believe that if a person has the right to live with dignity, they also have the right to die

Advocate: 13-Year-Old in Mexico Denied Abortion in Rape

Officials in northern Mexico have denied an abortion to a 13-year-old girl who was raped by a family acquaintance, an advocacy group said Monday. Abortion is legal in Mexico in cases of rape. But Regina Tames, director of the Group for Information on Reproductive Choice, said officials in Sonora state are relying on a judge’s

US Stem Cell Company Heads to Mexico After FDA Reprimand

The attack on stem cell research has driven at least one regenerative medicine company to seek friendlier climes south of the border. Six months after the federal government forced it to stop its treatments, the Houston-based Celltex Therapeutics moved its operations to Mexico to avoid the long arm of the law. The U.S. Food and