The Spanish Government is currently considering the
introduction of a new Bill to overturn the very liberal abortion regime passed into
law by the previous Socialist Zapatero Government.
The proposed legislation will improve the current situation
too some extent but significant problems will still remain. The bill for
example will retain a major loophole in the 1985 law: abortion by “risk to mental
health of the mother” which can and is being abused in other jurisdictions.
The Bill’s Preamble recalls that both the Spanish
Constitution (article 15) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
recognize the Right to Life as a fundamental right.
That Preamble recalls also that repeated jurisprudence of
the Spanish Constitutional Court has firmly established that the unborn child
is under the protection of the Constitution and that the State must abstain
from interrupting or hindering pregnancy; and that the protection of the unborn
child’s life is not absolute, as it must be pondered in some exceptional cases
with the dignity of the woman.
Main changes in the new Bill
- Free abortion - considered as
a right by the 2010 law if performed up to 14 weeks of pregnancy will be
abolished, as the full 2010 law will be abrogated.
- Abortion performed up to 22
weeks will not be punished as a criminal offense when there is a serious danger
to the life of the mother or to her physical or psychological health. Important
and permanent health damage for the pregnant woman due to pregnancy must be
certified by two physicians. They must be specialists of the related pathology
and they must have no relation with the center that will perform the abortion
- If the serious psychological
danger has its origin in the unborn child having an anomaly incompatible with
life, one of the two physicians must be a specialist in the child’s pathology.
If the anomaly is discovered after the 22nd week, or cannot be detected before,
abortion can also be legally performed.
- Girls under 18 will need the
approval of their parents to have an abortion
- In no case of illegal abortion
the mother will be punished for a criminal offense
- Every woman that, under the
conditions of this law, asks to have an abortion must receive information and
advice about:
the diagnosis
about her health and that of her unborn child
the dangers and long-term effects that the abortion might
cause for her health
the alternatives to abortion and the mother’s rights to
receive assistance from health, housing, employment and social services
public and private entities that could help her and her
child in every need that might
arise with pregnancy
All that information -the goal of which must be focused on
the protection of the lives of the mother and of the unborn child and the good
evolution of the pregnancy - must be individualized, personal and provided by
professionals with no relation with the abortion center.
No abortion could be performed until 7 days after the
information mentioned above is received
- Health professionals will have
the right to exercise their conscientious objection to any participation or
collaboration in an abortion
- Advertisement of abortion
centers, techniques, means and procedures will be forbidden
