law
Spain's Socialist government on Saturday approved a controversial bill that would allow women as young as 16 to undergo an abortion without parental consent
18.11.09 - 12:28 -
Spain's Socialist government on Saturday approved a controversial bill that would allow women as young as 16 to undergo an abortion without parental consent.
The measure, if passed by Parliament, would allow unrestricted abortion up to the 14th week of pregnancy and up to the 22nd in case the woman's life or health is at risk or if the fetus has serious deformities.
At a press conference after the Cabinet meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernández de la Vega said that "rights, guarantees, safety and respect are the basis of the new law."
The measure has been fiercely opposed by the Catholic Church and representatives of the conservative opposition Partido Popular.
The result, she said, is a statute that is "sensible and seeks to provide legally and without dogmatisms what is missing in the current legislation."
Spain's current abortion law only allows the procedure in special cases, including rape, serious malformation of the fetus and cases in which the woman's life is at risk.
In the deputy premier's view, "it is adapted to our social realities" because it offers safety to women in the exercise of a right and guarantees for health-care professionals who from now on "will have more clearly established the conditions and timing for providing this service."
The Bill for Sexual and Reproductive Health and for the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy establishes that until the 14th week of pregnancy a woman may freely have an abortion, if at least three days before the procedure she receives information about her rights and about the help she can expect to receive as a mother if that should be her decision.
In exceptional cases, a woman may have an abortion up to the 22nd week on two conditions: if her life or heath is at risk or if the fetus is seriously deformed.
In either case, the decision must be accompanied by a report issued by two medical specialists apart from those who perform the abortion.
