Mexican abortion battle heats up as Christians unify
(Corrects to November from December in paragraph 4)
By Gunther Hamm
MEXICO CITY, March 21 (Reuters) - Mexico's Christian churches banded together on Wednesday to fight a law that would legalize abortion in Mexico City, fearing it could spread quickly to the rest of the country.
Leaders of the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Greek Orthodox churches railed against leftist politicians in the city's local assembly who are likely to decriminalize abortion within months.
"The leftists' anti-democratic, intolerant and fascist attitude has tried to shut up a voice that objects to this absurd blood law," said Hugo Valdemar, spokesman for Mexico City's Roman Catholic archdiocese.
A new leftist majority in the city government has angered religious groups by attempting to swiftly pass liberal reforms. The assembly first clashed with the Catholic Church in November when it legalized homosexual civil unions, a law that took effect on Friday.
Abortion is legal in Mexico City in the case of rape and if a mother's life is threatened.
Assembly leaders argue that legalizing the procedure will save lives, saying that 2,000 women die each year during illegal abortions.
Anti-abortion groups plan to march on Thursday morning to the city's assembly hall to introduce a bill they say would give poor pregnant women financial support, provide tax breaks for child rearing and give aid to adoption agencies.
On Tuesday, a federal senator introduced a bill to decriminalize abortion for the entire country, where the procedure is currently only allowed in the case of rape.
President Felipe Calderon, an outspoken Catholic, criticized the capital's assembly. "I would rather see actions that everyone agrees with and not actions on very sensitive topics that divide society," he said.
Congress is unlikely to decriminalize abortion since Calderon's conservative National Action Party has the largest voting bloc.
Mexico City's assembly expects another fight with the Catholic Church when it pushes for the legalization of euthanasia.
Mexico's Catholic Church leads the world's second-biggest Catholic population after Brazil. Some 90 percent of the country's 107 million people consider themselves Catholic.
The Anglican and Greek Orthodox churches are smaller. Conservative evangelical groups are winning adherents but were not represented at Wednesday's meeting.
