As British mums living in Spain we are all aware of the differences between giving birth in the UK and giving birth in Spain .. some good and some bad. But although Spain is often seen as more traditional than the UK in terms of the issues surrounding pregnancy and birth, things are starting to change as the Zapatero Government brings in some welcome and some controversial changes regarding abortion and the morning after pill ... This article from the Brussels Journel by Soeren Kern http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/3990 outlines some of the policies currently under discussion...
'Spaniards are currently debating a controversial plan by Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to liberalize the country’s abortion law. The new measure would obligate the public healthcare system to provide free abortions without any restrictions for women 16 years and over up to the 14th week of pregnancy, and up to 22 weeks if there is a risk to the mother’s health or if the foetus is deformed. Women can also undergo the procedure after 22 weeks if doctors certify that the foetus has a serious deformity or incurable illness. The new bill would reform the present law, passed in 1985, which legalizes abortion only for certain restricted cases: up to 12 weeks of pregnancy in cases of rape, up to 22 weeks in the case of severe foetal malformation, and at any point if a doctor certifies that the pregnancy represents a threat to the physical or mental health of the mother.
The Zapatero government says the new law is groundbreaking in Spain because it regards abortion as a right, not a crime. Equality Minister Bibiana Aído says that with the new law, “no woman will go to jail for interrupting her pregnancy.” In actual practice, however, abortion is already essentially legal on demand in Spain because the existing law is not enforced. According to the Spanish Ministry of Health, the number of abortions has more than doubled in the past decade, reaching a record-high 112,138 abortions in 2007 (the latest year for which official data is available), or more than 300 every day. At the current rate, one out of every five pregnancies in Spain will end in abortion by 2010. By some estimates, that would rank Spain as having one of the highest abortion rates in Europe.
The most controversial part of the proposed reforms would give girls aged 16 the right to abort without consulting their parents. The move, which has outraged Spanish voters on both sides of the political aisle, is the latest in an ambitious program of social change under Zapatero, who critics say is resolutely determined to destroy Spain’s Judeo-Christian ethical foundations, primarily by deconstructing the traditional family.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Trinidad Jiménez announced that effective immediately the government will make the so-called “morning-after” contraception pill available at pharmacies without prescription, provoking accusations by the conservative opposition Popular Party that the Zapatero government views abortion as just “one more method of contraception.” For her part, Deputy Prime Minister María Teresa Fernández de la Vega says the new bill is necessary to “preserve the dignity of women.” She also says it is “in line with today’s Spanish reality.” But Spain’s real reality is that abortion, in addition to corroding Spanish attitudes toward life, is also imploding the Spanish population'.
Soeren Kern is Senior Fellow for Transatlantic Relations at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group
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