Mexican Supreme Court rejects denying marriage to people with HIV
In Mexico, 19 out of 32 states in the country demand that people looking to get married get a medical certificate indicating that neither party suffers from a contagious disease. In some cases, the simple fact of testing positive for HIV or syphilis is reason enough to deny the marriage and in other cases, if both parties agree, they can get married even if illnesses of this kind are notified, as reported by the specialized medium Letra S.
In this context, the Nation’s Supreme Court of Justice determined this past October, that denial of marriage to people with HIV or any other transmissible infection is unjustified.
It also added in the resolution, issued by the First Chamber of the highest court, that the best way to protect the health of those who want to get married is not to prohibit access to marriage from the authority, but rather provide opportune, complete and reliable information so that they may make informed decisions.
It’s worth remembering that this marriage prohibition not only includes sexually transmitted infections such as HIV or syphilis, but also hereditary and incurable illnesses such as hemophilia and other conditions.
The case that was tried
The matter reached the Supreme Court by way of a trial in which a person was asking for their cohabitation to be recognized so they could receive the inheritance of the person who had been their partner for 12 years. At the time, the first request was denied, however the citizen appealed and the Appeals Court recognized the cohabitation.
As informed by the court in a press release, the counterpart was dissatisfied and issued protective action, alleging that a cohabitation could not be recognized because the deceased partner had HIV. Aside from this, it was argued that there was no document in existence in which the other member of the couple officially accepted this health condition.
The case was escalated to the country’s highest tribunal and this is how it was determined that the act of forbidding marriage which involves a person with a “chronic, incurable and contagious disease” does not protect either of the contracting parties, however it does limit the person’s rights with regards to their state of health.
At AHF Latin America and The Caribbean we work to achieve quality attention for people with HIV, as well as to prevent new infections. If you want a free HIV test or more information, contact us in the nearest office in your country or write to us via Whatsapp.