Rocío recovers her 14-year-old daughter after 18 months of separation for helping her abort

MÉRIDA, Yuc., (apro) .- For a year and a half, Rocío fought to get her 14-year-old daughter, Mariela, back. In November 2023, the teenager was placed under state guardianship after undergoing an abortion, as her mother was accused of attempted femicide, abortion, and possibly criminal acts.

Following an injunction ruling in her favor, Mariela is back home with Rocío, having been handed over to her by court order on Wednesday the 21st of this month.

Mariela was initially sent to the Comprehensive Care Center for Destitute Minors (CAIMEDE) and later to Casa Otoch, where on Friday, May 16, she was sexually assaulted by two of her classmates.

"I want her back, and they told me no, because they have protocols (but) my daughter is at risk of anything happening to her. One of the boys who touched her was supposed to leave soon because he's 18, but he hasn't. They acknowledged that he's a boy who doesn't respect her," she declared in an interview on Tuesday the 20th, while awaiting the ruling on the injunction.

Rocío supported her daughter Mariela's decision to have an abortion when she asked for help. The teenager was 13 years old when she found out she was pregnant; she didn't want to be a mother, so she went with her mother to the doctor.

In November 2024, Rocío and Mariela went together to see a doctor at a pharmacy. They purchased misoprostol and followed the doctor's instructions.

Three days later, the girl experienced severe pain and bleeding. She became frightened. Her mother was at work, so she asked her grandmother for help, who took her to the emergency room at the IMSS Family Medical Unit No. 58.

Mariela was sent to the IMSS Terminal 1 hospital in Mérida; it was there that a doctor, seeing Rocío arrive, warned her that the police would come looking for her.

“My daughter was just a month and a few days pregnant, which is why we decided to do it. I had read and knew it was no longer a crime in the country,” she said, referring to the Supreme Court ruling that declared it unconstitutional to penalize women who choose to terminate their pregnancies, a decision issued in early September 2023.

Despite this, two investigations were opened against Rocío at the State Attorney General's Office (FGE) for attempted femicide, which has since been closed, and another, UNATD 709/2023, for abortion and possibly criminal acts.

Mariela spent eight days in the hospital, and the day before she was discharged, her mother was summoned to the state Attorney General's Office for the Protection of Children and Adolescents (Prodennay). She testified about what happened to her daughter, and the next day when she went to pick her up, she was told she couldn't be taken away.

The fight for Mariela

In Yucatán, abortion was legalized in April 2025. Women and pregnant women can terminate their pregnancies during the first 12 weeks.

Rocío and Mariela are not alone. A team of legal advisors, who work to defend women and pregnant people from the criminalization of their sexual and reproductive rights, supports them.

Mariela wasn't just separated from her mother in a vulnerable situation. For the first six months, she was prohibited from receiving visits. With the support of attorney Amelia Ojeda Sosa, she filed four injunctions—all of which were granted to both—to be able to see her.

It wasn't until the fourth, 596/2024, which was resolved in the First District Court in Mérida, Yucatán, that Prodennay had no choice but to allow visits between Mariela and her mother Rocío.

"They filed a complaint against the admission of the injunction, and they lost all their appeals because there was no valid argument for it. They complied with the provisional suspension granted so the woman could see her daughter because they were going to be fined for not complying with the definitive suspension issued by the district judge," Ojeda explained.

Following Mariela's sexual assault, in which two of her classmates from Casa Otoch sexually assaulted her in the hallways of the Social Assistance Center (CAS), Rocío met with Prodennay staff this Monday, but they refuse to return her daughter to her.

Rocío's legal advisor explained that there is no crime to prosecute against her, and that the case for attempted femicide has already been closed, and there are no investigations underway in the case for possible criminal acts.

Even so, Prodennay asked Mariela to withdraw the injunction.

"What they're arguing is that it has to be dropped because there's a judicial order stating that everything must remain as it is, and that's a misinterpretation of the judge's order. The injunction can be resolved in two ways: with the ruling issued against the judge or with a dismissal so that there's no reason to pursue the injunction. And what would be the way to resolve it? They would have to return their daughter. That way, they would inform the district judge that there would no longer be material on which to judge, and the injunction would be dismissed," Amelia pointed out.

"If they wanted to punish us, they've already punished us a lot. My daughter has been away from us for over a year. I just ask that they return her to me because now I'm also afraid for her safety," Mariela lamented.

Regarding Mariela and Rocío's case, the Yucatán DIF was asked for its position on the matter; however, no response was received prior to publication.

On May 21, Amelia Ojeda and a team of lawyers won a fight against the criminalization of abortion in the state. Mother and daughter are now home together.