The Coalition of Mexican Feminist Women () was a Mexican feminist organization created in 1976.

History

The coalition brought together five existing Mexican feminist groups, and two publications, including the recently founded ''fem''. It published its own periodical, ''Cihuat''. The group's priority was decriminalizing abortion in Mexico, articulating an ideal of 'voluntary

motherhood A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case ...

' (''maternidad voluntaria''). At the Coalición's second National Conference on Abortion, in September 1977, members drafted a bill to decriminalize abortion, the 'Law of Voluntary Motherhood'. They presented the bill to the

Chamber of Deputies (Mexico) The Chamber of Deputies ( Spanish: , ) is the lower house of the Congress of the Union, the bicameral parliament of Mexico. The other chamber is the Senate. The structure and responsibilities of both chambers of Congress are defined in Artic ...

in December 1977, demonstrating outside until they were allowed in for an audience with a legislator from the

Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party (, , PRI) is a List of political parties in Mexico, political party in Mexico that was founded in 1929 as the National Revolutionary Party (, PNR), then as the Party of the Mexican Revolution (, PRM) and fin ...

. The legislator did not sponsor the bill before Congress. On

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in Mar ...

in 1978 the coalition marched as mourning women ('mujeres elutadas'), carrying funeral wreaths in memory of women who had died after badly performed illegal abortions. From 1978 to 1980 the coalition started working with non-feminist women's groups, trying to build a broader coalition for abortion law reform. In 1981 it worked with the

Mexican Communist Party The Mexican Communist Party (, PCM) was a communist party in Mexico. It was founded in 1917 as the Socialist Workers' Party (, PSO) by Manabendra Nath Roy, a left-wing Indian revolutionary. The PSO changed its name to the ''Mexican Communist ...

to draft another bill to decriminalize abortion,. After this also failed to pass into law, the coalition lost momentum and dissolved.

References

{{reflist Mexican abortion-rights activists Women's organizations based in Mexico Organizations established in 1976 Feminist organizations in Mexico 1976 establishments in Mexico Abortion-rights organizations 1980s disestablishments in Mexico Organizations disestablished in the 1980s