A move by local governments to restrict abortion rights in much of central Spain reignited debate over the issue on Friday in the southern European country ahead of this year’s local elections.
Under new measures adopted by the conservative and far-right coalition that governs the Castile-León region, women wishing to have an abortion there will be given optional access to unsolicited resources from doctors before the procedure begins. must be done.
These include listening to the fetal heartbeat, having a 4D ultrasound scan, and getting psychological advice to reduce the number of abortions.
Patients are free to decline these offers.
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The new measures were presented Thursday by the local government’s far-right vice president, Juan García Gallardo. His Vox party is a junior coalition partner of the People’s Party, Spain’s mainstream conservative party in Castile and Leon. Local governments in Spain are responsible for public health policy at the regional level. The country faces local elections in June.
“We give every parent who wants to see it a real-time video that looks at the head, hands, feet, fingers. In short, every part of the child’s body during pregnancy,” said García Gallardo.
The announcement drew strong criticism across Spain, from left-wing central governments and even from conservative mayors of the Madrid region.
Garcia Gallardo said on Friday that the measures will take effect immediately in Castile and Leon, home to about 2.5 million of Spain’s 47 million inhabitants.
During the demonstration, women hold placards and banners and chant slogans. Demonstrators gathered in the city center of Madrid on September 28 for the Global Day of Action for Free, Safe and Free Abortion Rights.
(Photo by Guillermo Gutierrez Carrascal/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
But Spain’s Health Minister Carolina Darías said there would be no compromise in the area of abortion rights.
Most of the central government’s many female ministers rushed to denounce what they described as an attack on women’s rights, a major political banner of Spain’s left-wing coalition.
Isabel Diaz Ayuso, a leading conservative figure and head of the Madrid region, unexpectedly announced a new helpline for pregnant women on Friday. “Women should be free to choose what information they want,” she said.
Spain allows abortions up to the 14th week of pregnancy, and the country has recently made several moves to strengthen abortion rights nationwide.
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Last year, the left-wing-dominated Congress passed a law banning the intimidation of women into entering abortion clinics. There, anti-abortion groups often held demonstrations to get patients to change their minds. The state also scrapped the requirement that a 16-year-old and her 17-year-old obtain parental consent before terminating a pregnancy.
Catholicism is not Spain’s official faith, but it continues to have a strong influence on a segment of the population. A strong Catholic for centuries, the country was ruled from 1935 until his 1975 by the self-proclaimed national Catholic regime of military dictator General Francisco Franco.
