Activists' network in Mexico helps U.S. women get abortions

CHIHUAHUA, Mexico — Marcela Castro’s office in Chihuahua is more than 100 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, yet the distance doesn’t prevent her from assisting women in the United States in circumventing recently imposed bans on abortion.

From the headquarters of Marea Verde Chihuahua, an organization that has supported reproductive rights in northern Mexico since 2018, Castro and her colleagues provide virtual guidance, as well as shipments of abortion pills for women who want to terminate a pregnancy on their own. Since they do not charge for the help they provide, most “acompañantes” need jobs outside the organizations where they volunteer. Among them are lawyers, psychologists and other professionals. Over the years, they have created a nationwide network that has secured abortion access for Mexican and foreign women, whether or not abortion is legal where they live.

Among all other Mexican border states where “acompañantes” support Mexican or American women, abortion is only legal in Baja California. Additionally, a 2021 ruling by Mexico’s Supreme Court held that those who get the procedure shouldn’t be punished in Coahuila, a state south of Texas. The accompaniment starts with some basic questions to determine the gestational age, how the pregnancy was confirmed, and the woman’s overall health. Once the information is evaluated, the “acompañante” proposes how to proceed.

Aborto Seguro Chihuahua, which is part of the binational network, provides long-distance guidance to women in the U.S. but medication is not mailed from Mexico. Instead, the “acompañantes” collaborate with volunteers who transport the pills from Ciudad Juárez, in Chihuahua, to El Paso, Texas, where the packages are delivered either in person or through mailing services.

Led by activist Veronica Cruz, Las Libres pioneered in training “acompañantes” to provide virtual guidance for self-managed medical abortions in Mexico and, since 2019, in the U.S. as well. As with Marea Verde and Aborto Seguro in Chihuahua, Las Libres usually receives requests from Texas, Arizona and Colorado. Occasionally, women also reach out from Florida, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Georgia, California, New Jersey and New York.

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Activists' network in Mexico helps U.S. women get abortionsA network of abortion-rights activists in Mexico is finding ways to offer assistance -- including shipments of abortion pills -- to women in the United States affected by recently imposed abortion bans in several states. This abortion model, in which no travel, clinics or prescriptions are needed, sparked a surge of requests for help from American women since the Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to abortion last year. The model was developed by Mexican activists through decades of facing abortion bans and restrictions in most of Mexico’s 32 states. To safely advise women on self-managed medical abortions, Marcela Castro and her colleagues in Marea Verde Chihuahua were trained to serve as a guide and partner, whether in person or from long distance. Gross Just ship abortion pills long with the drug mules. Already an established route to drug-addled leftists. Murderers
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