he official 2012 GOP platform calls for a federal ban on abortion with no exception for rape or incest victims.  Although some Americans support this platform in theory, they may not realize what limiting a woman’s right to a safe abortion looks like in practice. The GOP platform promotes the idea that a ban on abortion will decrease abortions, but it does nothing to address the situations that create the need for abortion. Those situations – rape, incest, socio-economic factors, and abandonment by a spouse or partner – continue to exist and to cause women to seek abortions. When abortion becomes illegal, desperate circumstances force women to seek unsafe abortions that often endanger their lives. To understand how a ban on abortion could affect U.S. women, look no father than our southern neighbor, Mexico.