Law severely limiting abortion looks to be going ahead in Spain

[NiceTabard]

Just saw this on the news:

here

At the moment women can have an abortion up to 14 weeks, or 22 in the case of foetal abnormality.

The new law will restrict to cases of rape or where two doctors agree the mother's life is at serious risk.

This is a huge step backwards for women's rights in Spain and I had no idea that there were moves like this afoot to reverse existing rights in our neck of the woods, as it were. I mean the US, yes, much of south america has really punitive rules, and of course NI and Ireland have strict rules but they are kind of already there. I am really taken aback at the prospect of existing rights being removed so close to home.

Was this on anyone elses radar?

The article says the new law will almost certainly pass.

Also with this I wonder how they decide whether someone has been raped or not - I can't imagine they will just take women's word for it.

That's bloody awful! They've only had legal abortion in Spain for 3 years as it is (according to the article).

Also with this I wonder how they decide whether someone has been raped or not - I can't imagine they will just take women's word for it.

Me either.

Truly awful - I think that what really pushes it over is that sop to the concerned public, that babies conceived through rape are allowed to be aborted.

Virtuous women who are pregnant through rape - allowed to abort, those dirty women having sex for fun, not allowed to abort. Virtuous women who want a baby, but the baby is damaged, allowed to abort.

It's morally bankrupt to say that you're allowed to abort because of how the baby was conceived, or because it has some kind of defect but not for any other reason.

The baby had no control over any of these reasons so why is it any different at all - it's purely so the people creating the law can feel better about themselves by saying that they're only forcing bad women to be pregnant, not the good ones who were raped (for a very narrow definition of rape)

Couldn't agree more chunkypickle.

Apparently over 80% of spanish public agree with abortion on demand, so the idea of the politicians being able to put this through at the behest of the church and ignoring what everyone actually wants... It's disgusting and quite frankly terrifying. Shows what the idea of democracy can actually add up to ie. nothing. Ruling class still do whatever they like.

The new law will restrict to cases of rape or where two doctors agree the mother's life is at serious risk.

So only one doctor saying a woman will die isn't good enough?

Do you think that in cases where a woman has become pregnant through rape that the defense for the rapist (or even the police) will use it to claim she is only "crying rape" for the purposes of having an abortion? I hope it doesn't make it harder for women to be taken seriously.

Isn't the issue of the woman's 'life' being at risk, as opposed to 'just' her health how that awful Irish case came about too?

What a hideous law. I have more respect for people who say all abortion is an abomination (not that I agree with them) than these ridiculous women-hating, logically incoherent positions.

more on this story on the BBC today

I hope what they say is true and that this act is unlikely to get through (given that it is not wanted by the majority of the population and is, you know, wrong).

Urgh, it is just so depressing that we keep having to go over the same ground as far as abortion rights are concerned. These are battles that women have been fighting for years and any progressive legislation which is made always seems so fragile doesn't it.

What with this and the court case which could lead to the criminalisation of pregnant women who drink, it has been a bad few weeks for women in Europe.