Secular State and federalism in Mexico

Abstract

This paper analyze somes of the pressure exerted on federalism as a result of the amendments to articles 40 and 24 of the Federal Constitution, which guarantee a secular republic and religious freedom, respectively. Using the example of the reactions elicited by the decriminalization of abortion in the capital, it proposes that the pressure caused by the differentiated practice of secularism is exacerbated by the challenge of addressing the new constitutional mandates in the midst of a political and legal debate on the scope of secularism and its implications for the form of government.