Regional abortion rights restrictions spark debate in Spain

Jan 12, 2023

MADRID (AP) — A regional government’s move to restrict abortion rights in a large part of central Spain reignited debate Friday on the issue in the southern European country, in the runup to this year’s local elections.

Under the new measures adopted by the conservative and far-right coalition governing the Castile and Leon region, women seeking an abortion there must be offered optional access to unsolicited resources by doctors before starting the procedure.

Continued: https://apnews.com/article/abortion-health-spain-government-e381fcb485ffb887581752945ce35f98


Spain votes to approve a new law to introduce paid ‘menstrual leave’ for painful periods

By Euronews and AFP 
Updated: 15/12/2022

Spanish lawmakers adopted on Thursday a new bill creating a menstrual leave for women suffering from painful periods and strengthening access to abortion in public hospitals.

This text was adopted by deputies in the lower house of the Spanish parliament on its first reading, with 190 votes in favour, 154 against, and 5 abstentions. It will now go to the Senate.

"This legislature is a legislature of feminist conquests," Irene Montero, Spain's Minister of Equality and a member of the radical left-wing Podemos, a party allied with socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez's government, told the Congress of Deputies.

Continued: https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/12/15/spain-votes-to-approve-a-new-law-to-introduce-paid-menstrual-leave-for-painful-periods


Spain passes pioneering sexual, reproductive health law

December 15, 2022
Reuters

MADRID - Spain's parliament on Thursday passed a sexual and reproductive health law that allows girls aged 16 and 17 to undergo abortions without parental consent and, in a first for a European country, offers state-funded paid leave for women who suffer from painful periods.

"These advancements allow us to exercise freedom over our bodies, with the state recognising the full citizenship of more than half the population," Equality Minister Irene Montero told lawmakers before the vote, which was adopted with a 190-154 majority and five abstentions.

Continued: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/spain-passes-pioneering-sexual-reproductive-health-law-2022-12-15/


US-style anti-abortion protests come to Europe

With protests against abortion rights becoming increasingly aggressive, countries such as England, Wales and Spain are drawing up laws to protect people at clinics.

Ines Eisele
October 23, 2022

On January 20, 2023, hundreds of thousands of opponents of abortion rights are expected to gather in the US capital, Washington D.C., for the "March for Life." The march takes place annually on or around the anniversary of the January 22, 1973, Roe v. Wade decision, which had protected abortion rights in the United States until this June, when the US Supreme Court overturned the decision. Several states have since further restricted abortion.

Though the march is the biggest and most famous anti-abortion event, there are many such rallies in the United States and around the world. Many organizations that were founded to oppose abortion rights in the United States now have branches abroad. One of the biggest organizations in the world for opponents of reproductive rights is 40 Days for Life, a Christian organization that campaigns against abortion in dozens of countries.

Continued: https://www.dw.com/en/us-style-anti-abortion-protests-are-spreading-to-europe/a-63528128


Governments are blocking abortion info online. Here’s how we’re fighting back

How rights group Women On Web is resisting digital attacks on reproductive rights

Venny Ala-Siurua
14 October 2022

More and more people are looking on the internet for information about sexual and reproductive health and accessing these services online. For young people, the internet is an important, if not the only, resource for this information. This is why criminalising and restricting abortion is not the only way to attack abortion rights today. Limiting or banning information about abortion or putting out deliberately confusing material can have a devastating impact on abortion access.

Since 2005, Women on Web, where I am the executive director, has used the internet and digital technology to break down the barriers. We have provided more than 100,000 safe medical abortion services. Our website offers comprehensive and easy-to-read information about abortion in 27 languages and our multinational helpdesk team has responded to more than a million emails in 16 different languages in the past 17 years.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/abortion-information-website-women-on-web-womens-link-worldwide/


Spanish Supreme Court orders the unblocking of a website that provided information on sexual and reproductive rights

The website of the international organization Women on Web has been blocked in Spain since the beginning of 2020. Women's Link Worldwide, on behalf of Women on Web, filed a lawsuit to defend the right to information on the internet about sexual and reproductive rights, especially about safe abortion.

Spain, October 06, 2022

The Supreme Court of Spain has ordered the partial unblocking of the website of the international organization Women on Web, which offers information on sexual and reproductive rights and access to safe abortion via online services. The website was completely blocked in 2020 by order of the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS), part of the Ministry of Health, without a prior court order authorizing it.

The decision comes in the framework of the legal proceedings initiated in 2021 by Women's Link Worldwide, on behalf of Women on Web, to defend the right to information on the internet about sexual and reproductive rights, especially about safe abortion. In the judgment, the Court recognizes that the complete blocking of the website without judicial authorization should not have happened and was a disproportionate measure.

Continued: https://www.womenonweb.org/en/page/21685/spanish-supreme-court-orders-the-unblocking-of-a-website-that


Spanish govt proposes wider abortion rights, menstrual leave

The Spanish government has approved a draft bill that widens abortion rights for teenagers and may make Spain the first country in Europe entitling workers to paid menstrual leave

By The Associated Press
17 May 2022

MADRID -- The Spanish government approved a draft bill Tuesday that widens abortion rights for teenagers and may make Spain the first country in Europe entitling workers to paid menstrual leave.

The measures are part of a package of proposals that will be sent to the Spanish parliament for debate. The package includes an extension of abortion rights, scrapping the requirement for 16- and 17-year-olds to obtain parental consent before terminating a pregnancy.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/spanish-govt-proposes-wider-abortion-rights-menstrual-leave-84774876


Spain to ease abortion limits for over-16s and allow menstrual leave

Parental permission to end for terminations and up to five days’ leave a month for painful periods

Sam Jones in Madrid
Thu 12 May 2022

Spain’s Socialist-led coalition government is preparing a law that would allow women over the age of 16 to have abortions without permission from their parents or guardians, and introduce up to five days of menstrual leave a month.

The draft legislation, which is due to be approved by the cabinet next week, is intended to ensure that abortion is available to all those using the public health system, and that menstruation is treated as a proper health issue.

Continued:  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/12/spain-to-ease-abortion-limits-for-over-16s-and-allow-menstrual-leave


Spain bans harassment of women entering abortion clinics

Posted: Apr 8, 2022

MADRID (AP) — Spain is awaiting the publication in coming days of a new law banning the intimidation or harassment of women entering abortion clinics.

The law comes into force when it is published in the Government Gazette, possibly next week, after the Spanish Senate on Wednesday endorsed a law passed earlier by parliament.

Continued: https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/health-news/spain-bans-harassment-of-women-entering-abortion-clinics/


Thousands protest against abortion in Madrid

27/03/2022

Thousands of people marched though Madrid on Sunday to protest against abortion, as Spain's leftist government prepares a law to guarantee access to the procedure at public hospitals.

Carrying signs that read "Abortion is not right" and chanting "More respect for life", demonstrators walked through the centre of the Spanish capital to Cibeles square in central Madrid where a manifesto was read aloud.

Continued: https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20220327-thousands-protest-against-abortion-in-madrid