The Spanish government is preparing a new abortion law for next autumn. Modifications will be made to the current legislation which was approved by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s government in 2010. The former prime minister also introduced a number of changes to the 1985 law enforced by Felipe González’s government.
This should not come as a surprise as before winning the elections, Spain’s current prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, had announced he was not going to repeal or modify the entire law on this delicate subject “but - said the then People’s Party (PP) candidate – I think there are a few things that need changing.”
He pointed out the specific example of a “girl being able to abort without her mother’s knowledge or consent” (statements made to Spanish daily newspaper El País, 17 November 2011).
The Minister of Justice, Alberto Ruiz Galladrón, announced the reform for the first time last January. The People’s Party MP stated that it was no longer possible “for sixteen and seventeen year old girls to decide to abort without their parents’ or guardians’ permission.”
He added that the new law would be based on the “defence of the right to life” as defined in 1985 by the Constitutional Court.
Resolving an appeal presented by the father of minister José María Ruiz Gallardón, the Spanish Constitutional Court had ruled that the “nasciturus” is a “legal asset that is protected by the Constitution,” and that women’s rights should not come before the rights of the unborn without a specific reason (the law in force until 2010 took three cases into account: sexual violence, serious deformities in the foetus and the degree risk posed to the pregnant woman’s physical and psychological health).
The opposition reacted immediately. Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, Secretary General of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) said “it would be an unacceptable regression for women.”
Responding to premature rumours about the introduction of a “penal persecution for women who abort,” the minister stressed that the proposed reform would not put women behind bars. The gravity of the economic crisis has led to the issue being put on the backburner in recent months but in recent days the minister has communicated some of the points that will be included in the reform that is currently being prepared.
In statements to Spanish newspaper La Razón (25 July issue), Ruiz Gallardón said that “the legislation will re-examine certain elements and will not be exactly the same as the 2010 version because experience shows that certain aspects need to be reconsidered.”
The Spanish minister then added: “I don’t see why a foetus should not be protected just because it has some deformity or disability and consequently aborted. I find it ethically inconceivable that we have lived with this legislation for so long. I believe they deserve the same level of protection as that given to foetuses with no deformity or disability.”
The Spanish Minister of Justice announced that according to the new legislation, foetal deformity will no longer be considered a legitimate reason to abort.
This is significant given that in 2010 alone, 3,361 pregnancies were voluntarily ended for this reason.
Foetal deformities are varied and in most cases do not put the mother or child’s life at risk.
Gallardo added that the new law will respect the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities approved by the UN in 2008 and ratified in Spain 3 years later.
The Spanish Minister of Justice will present the draft law after the summer so this autumn promises to be a “hot” one.