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Spain senate gives final approval to bill easing abortion laws

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Spain's Senate on Wednesday gave final approval to a bill that will ease restrictions on abortions. The legislation passed once three veto proposals were denied by majority votes, after which 88 amendments were rejected. The new law allows for abortions to be performed up to 22 weeks with the confirmation of two doctors that there exists fetal malformation or that the pregnancy poses a serious risk to the mother's health. A fetus diagnosed with a life-threatening condition may be aborted after the 22 week period. Additionally, women aged 16 or 17 are also allowed to have an abortion without parental consent, though they must notify their parents. The legislation will effect four months after official publication, which is expected to occur in March. Spain's lower house of parliament, the Congress of Deputies, passed the bill in December after it received approval from the Council of State in September. In October, hundreds of thousands of protesters rallied in Madrid in opposition to the proposed legislation. The changes were proposed last March by a panel of legal and medical experts led by Minister of Equality Bibiano Aido, eliciting widespread protests throughout Spain. The panel was formed in September 2008 at the request of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero as part of a series of social reforms that have included same-sex marriage and streamlined divorce proceedings. The conservative Popular Party has repeatedly expressed the opinion that relaxed abortion laws would stand in opposition to Article 15 of the Spanish Constitution, which guarantees the right to life. Prior to the revisions, Spanish abortion laws dated to 1985, after the end of the Franco regime, and were among the most restrictive in European nations. Abortions were permitted only in the case of rape, up to 12 weeks, severe fetal malformation, up to 22 weeks, or if the woman's physical or mental health was in danger.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on February 26, 2010 (boomark / email).