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By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent

MERIDA, YUCATAN, July 16, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Mexican state of Yucatan became the fourteenth to pass a pro-life amendment to its constitution yesterday, adding to a wave of opposition to Mexico City's policy of permitting and funding abortion on demand.

The amendment reads, “The state of Yucatan recognizes, protects, and guarantees the right to life of every human being, expressly affirming that, from the moment of fertilization, he comes under the protection of the law, and is to be treated like a human being that has been born for all corresponding legal effects, until his natural death, with exceptions already foreseen in ordinary laws.”

The state's legislators also passed an amendment to defend the institution of marriage, defining it as “an institution by means of which a juridical union is established between a man and a woman, with equality of rights, and duties, and obligations, with the possibility of bringing about human reproduction in a free, responsible, and informed manner.  The State recognizes that it is of vital interest for society that, in the union of man and woman for procreation, limits should be established regarding age, and psychological and physical health.”

The amendments were passed in response to a popular initiative by a group of organizations under the banner of the Pro-Yucatan Network.  Although the group also advocated the definition of the family based on the traditional definition of marriage, legislators opted for a broader definition that includes ties based on “affinity.”

Legislators also left intact the existing exceptions in the state's criminal code for abortion, which depenalize the procedure in cases of “economic hardship” in which a woman already has at least three children, as well as rape, fetal deformity, and danger to the mother's life.

The proliferation of pro-life and pro-family amendments at the state level in Mexico comes in response to the depenalization of abortion on demand during the first trimester of pregnancy in Mexico City in 2007, which was followed by the legalization of homosexual “civil unions.”

Previous LifeSiteNews coverage:

Thirteenth Mexican State Passes Pro-Life Constitutional Amendment with Overwhelming Majority
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/may/09052701.html

Mexican State of Guanajuato Passes Pro-Life Constitutional Amendment: 11th State to Do So
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/may/09051108.html

Two More Mexican States Pass Pro-Life Amendments by Overwhelming Majorities
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09041415.html

Pro-Abortion Forces Sue to Overturn State Pro-Life Amendment in Mexican Supreme Court
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jan/09013008.html

Mexican State of Sonora Passes Pro-Life Constitutional Amendment
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/oct/08102213.html