MEXICO CITY — “Courage! this is just the beginning, not the end!” shouted one of some 300 pro-life activists. Their rally was being disbanded by the police minutes after it was announced that Mexico City lawmakers voted to legalize abortion on April 24. It was the culmination of a heated and emotional debate that has involved the country.

The bill, approved by a 46-19 vote, with one abstention, legalizes abortion for any reason and in any circumstances during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. It will affect the more than 24 million inhabitants of the Federal District of Mexico City after it is signed by the city’s mayor.

The new law allows city hospitals to kill unborn children and opens the way for the abortion industry to open private businesses. Girls under 18 would have to get their parents’ consent.

But as the anonymous pro-life activist shouted outside the assembly’s building, the bitter war on abortion is far from over: Pro-life activists have already appealed the law to the Constitutional Court, and according to the daily newspaper El Universal, “Both sides are sharpening their swords for the next battle.”

The vote that finally legalized abortion in one of the world’s largest cities was preceded by a bitter fight in every public arena. It revealed the determination of the international pro-abortion industry to make money in Latin America.

The New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), which has been sponsoring most of the anti-life initiatives in Latin America, applauded the Mexico City law as “historic.” According to Elba Garcia, a local activist from the group, the vote in Mexico City “will serve as a model to get abortion accepted not only nationwide, but also in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

“The radical feminist group GIRE alone received more than $5 million from 1999 to 2004 to accomplish this purpose,” said Father Thomas Euteneuer, president of Human Life International. “Planned Parenthood’s affiliate MexFam received $3.4 million from 2002-2004. In other words, American abortion dollars bought this decision of death.”

To oppose this well-founded campaign, pro-life organizations in Mexico “displayed a coordinated, admirable battle, with the unequivocal support of Catholic authorities,” said Carlos Polo, president for Latin America of the Population Research Institute.

In fact, besides the energetic statement of the bishops, especially of Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera of Mexico City, lay pro-lifers launched a vigorous response, ranging from massive public protests to media campaigns that included a pro-life TV ad featuring the most famous Mexican comedian, Roberto Gómez Bolaños, known as Chespirito.

Unfortunately, the pro-life movement also committed some key mistakes.

An American strategist hired as an adviser by Mexican pro-lifers, who spoke to the Register on condition of anonymity, explained that probably the most important mistake was to rely on one political party, the National Action Party (PAN), for the political maneuvering to prevent the legalization of abortion.

“Experience has proven that relying on one single political party to carry the pro-life flag is deadly, and that is what happened in Mexico, unfortunately,” the American expert said.

“When they realized their mistake and tried to reach out to parties like the Institutional Revolutionary Party [PRI], it was too late,” he added.

In fact, according to Polo, “The thirst of revenge of the Democratic Revolutionary Party [PRD], which lost the recent presidential elections to PAN and which controls the city’s legislature, played a key role in the vote in favor of abortion.”

A recent poll shows that Mexicans reject abortion overwhelmingly. Polo said that the legalization of abortion will have a significant political cost for the PRD.

“On April 24, they got their revenge against PAN, but the legal battle is just beginning, and several PRD leaders at a national level believe that supporting abortion can be politically too costly,” he added.

Pope Benedict

Several PRD national leaders for example, have strongly criticized the decision of Marcela Nolasco, director of PRD’s Human Rights affairs, to call on the Mexican government to protest internationally against Pope Benedict XVI.

A few days before the voting, the Mexican Bishops’ Conference made public a greeting sent by the Pope, in which he expressed his closeness “to the Church in Mexico and to so many people of good will, concerned about a project of law in the Federal District that threatens the life of the unborn child.”

Nolasco reacted by saying that “Benedict XVI is responsible for the climate of violence and threats that is growing in Mexico,” and said her party would demand the official rejection of “the Pope’s interference in Mexico’s internal affairs.”

Nevertheless, few followed Nolasco, and the PRD leadership finally decided not to act against Benedict, one of the most beloved and respected personalities in Mexico.

Despite the legalization of abortion, the tide seems to be turning back in favor of the pro-life movement.

In fact, while the PRD is having second thoughts about its staunch support of abortion, pro-life leaders are becoming more energized.

After denouncing the new law before the Constitutional Court, pro-lifers are now lobbying the National Congress to pass a law that will require a close monitoring of how the abortion law is applied in Mexico City, to see if, in fact, it will deliver all the magic solutions its promoters have been promising.

Pro-lifers are confident that legal abortion will bring no good to women and therefore will not be applied nationwide. Moreover, if found to be dangerous, it could be severely limited or even challenged by the Congress.

And more initiatives are springing up. José Antonio Fernandez of the coalition Dignidad Ciudadana announced that some 40 organizations “will soon begin a radio and television campaign to warn young people about the risks of the practice of abortion, and they will put in motion a support system for women who are in danger of having abortions.”

“We have to smile, give thanks to God and learn from our mistakes,” said Enrique Gómez Serrano, Mexico’s director of Alliance for the Family. “Our efforts so far have not been in vain, the defense of life has gained thousands of followers.”

And he painted a picture of the immediate future: “We will challenge the law. We will organize more people. We will inform more groups. We will educate more youth. We will create more teams and work more united than ever. … And life will not be defeated in Mexico!”

Alejandro Bermúdez

is based in Lima, Peru.