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Snowballing Opposition to Proposed Abortion Law in Spain : 24th Jun 09
Most Spaniards back the Catholic Church’s teaching on abortion, according to three recent opinion polls. The Socialist government is proposing a law that would allow abortion on demand for the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, and would let girls as young as 16 abort their babies without their parents’ consent.
Out of 1,000 people surveyed by Metroscopia in a poll for the left-wing Spanish daily El Pais, 64 percent opposed the measure. Another poll, for the conservative paper ABC, found that 57 percent of Spaniards opposed it, and a poll for the Spanish daily La Vanguardia said 71 percent were opposed.
Existing law on abortion in Spain allows abortion in cases of rape, foetal malformation and danger to the mother’s mental or physical health.
The shift in public opinion follows a sustained campaign by Spain’s pro-life organisations and the Church against the proposed law, including massive public demonstrations, petitions by scientists and academics, a letter-writing campaign, and other forms of protest.
Meanwhile, some 1,000 scientists and other professionals issued a declaration against stripping unborn babies of legal protection. Bioethics expert Monica Lopez Barahona said a human embryo is a human being at the point of conception.
The Socialist law would let pregnant women 16 and over abort babies up to 14 weeks on demand, and up to 22 weeks in purported cases of danger to the mother’s health or if the baby was deformed. Abortionists could kill a baby after 22 weeks if he or she had a serious or incurable illness.
The Spanish Family Forum, a coalition of Catholic groups, will stage a massive protest in Madrid in October, when lawmakers will debate the proposed law.
The opposition Popular Party is challenging the new reforms in the courts.
Meanwhile, the Bishops’ Conference has declared that the rights of unborn children already have less legal protection than flowers and trees. Juan Antonio Martinez Camino, spokesman for the Conference, said the Church wanted Spaniards to “think about the need to protect life”. “Sensitivity towards animal protection seems good to us”, he stated, “but it is paradoxical not to protect the human being”. Catholic Ireland. June 12.
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