This is what Erika Espinosa, 34, had to do in 2015 when her gynecologist in the city of Logroño did not want to have an abortion after asking for it. Articles 13 and 14 of Title II legalize abortion during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. During this period, the woman can make a free and informed decision on the termination of her pregnancy without the intervention of third parties. But the map of places where abortions are possible is created less by national legislation than by Spanish doctors. In large numbers and throughout the country, doctors refuse to perform them. Abortion is legal in Spain during a woman`s first 14 weeks of pregnancy. Article 15 states that abortion is allowed up to the 22nd week of pregnancy in cases of “serious risks to the life or health of the mother or foetus”. From 22. week, pregnancy can only be terminated if “fetal abnormalities incompatible with life are detected” or if “at the time of diagnosis, an extremely serious and incurable disease is detected in the fetus and confirmed by a clinical committee”. [5] Claire McKinney, professor of government and gender studies at the College of William & Mary, agrees. She cites the unique history and culture of the United States that allowed the anti-abortion movement to flourish. In June 2021, the European Parliament published a report (albeit despite strong opposition from the far-right Catholic lobby) calling on EU governments to guarantee the right to abortion and access to health services. The following month, Spain`s equality minister, Irene Montero, announced plans to revise the 2010 law.
The newly reformed version of the law was finally announced in May 2022, and the changes are significant. This was largely attributed to another provision in the 2010 law that gave health professionals directly involved in the procedure the right to conscientious objection – in other words, to refuse to perform an abortion as long as they declared their refusal in advance and in writing. In theory, a person`s refusal to perform or support an abortion should not prevent a woman from having one, nor should it affect the quality of her care. However, since the state also specified that this personal decision of a doctor should not be used to “discriminate” against him in a future recruitment process, it was not always possible for hospitals to guarantee that the majority of their medical staff were willing to perform the abortion procedure. As a result, no official register has been kept of the names of conscientious objectors – neither by Spanish medical institutions nor by the government “to prevent the possibility of this type of `discrimination`. In Castile and León, a region of 2 million inhabitants and almost 100,000 km2, women are in a similar situation. It is almost impossible to have access to an abortion due to conscientious objection, but also poor bureaucracy and lack of empathy. Women from these and many other Spanish regions are referred to centres in other regions close to large cities. This could mean a journey of more than 300 km for some of them. According to this law, the mother can terminate the pregnancy in public or private health centers within the first 12 weeks for rape, in the first 22 weeks for eugenic reasons and at any time during pregnancy for therapeutic reasons. In the second and third cases, a medical report was required to certify compliance with the legal requirements; In case of rape, a police report is required. In all three cases, abortion under medical supervision in a medical institution approved for abortion was not punishable with the express consent of the woman.
In other cases, the penal code provided for various prison sentences for mothers and doctors who performed abortions outside the law. Conscientious objection has gained ground in other countries, such as Italy, where it has been cited by doctors working in hospitals that, for the most part, do not perform abortions. And in Argentina, he has limited attempts to liberalize an abortion law passed last year. Dr. Sobreviela said these conversations could be very difficult. When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. 1973.
Wadeâ, who has guaranteed women in this country the right to abortion for 50 years, sent shockwaves through the United States and the Western world. The verdict was exceptional in that it was a complete reversal of the Court`s precedent; a precedent that was upheld by other Supreme Court decisions in the following decades. Spain`s abortion legislation has a turbulent history. In the 1930s, abortion rights were liberalized in the Republican-controlled area, but this was short-lived, as the Franco regime, with the support of the Catholic Church, again banned abortion. The laws were relaxed in 1985 and liberalized in 2010. Abortion remains a controversial political issue in Spain, but regular attempts to restrict it have failed to find a majority. [2] In recent years, abortion rates have declined thanks to the introduction of better access to emergency contraception. [3] The removal of federal protection of access to legal abortion means that legality and access to this medical procedure can be determined by each state government; According to the Guttmacher Institute, 26 states are now safe or likely to severely restrict or ban abortion altogether. Thirteen of those states already had laws known as “trigger laws,” which went into effect automatically when Roe was overthrown. On the sidewalk in front of Madrid`s Dator clinic, a message is scrawled with black spray like a morbid welcome mat: “Aquí matan niños”. “They kill children here.” This message has been around for more than two years.
As the first private abortion clinic in Madrid, Dator has long attracted protests and vitriol, but these have increased in recent years. The odyssey of finding the “right” clinic or traveling to other areas can be horrific. It delays the procedure, increases health risks from week to week, and unnecessarily amplifies the trauma perceived by women. It also increases economic costs.