Abortions in Spain dropped 24% during strict COVID-19 lockdown, study finds

by Universitat Pompeu Fabra – Barcelona, edited by Robert Egan
Dec 15, 2025

Research involving Pompeu Fabra University has concluded that abortions in Spain fell by around 24% during the two months of strict lockdown due to COVID-19 in the spring of 2020. The study, conducted by the researchers Libertad González (UPF Department of Economics and Business and Barcelona School of Economics) and Karina Trommlerová (Institute of Public Policy of Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia), reveals that this reduction was not due to the closure of clinics or difficulties getting access to the health service, but to a decrease in unwanted pregnancies, especially among single women.

In "The Impact of COVID-19 on Abortions in Spain," recently published in the journal Population and Development Review, the two economists analyze the administrative data of all abortions carried out in Spain between 2016 and 2020. The results show that in addition to the notable decrease during the two months of lockdown (from mid-March to mid-May 2020), the number of abortions also remained below previous levels for several further months.

Continued; https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-abortions-spain-strict-covid-lockdown.html

15.12.2025

Pompeu Fabra University

Europe

Spain

Madrid Refuses to Create Registry of Doctors Who Refuse Abortions Despite Government Pressure

Regional authorities will not draw up lists of doctors opposing abortion: decisions left to the courts

Ricardo Rubio
Nov 15, 2025

The authorities of the Autonomous Community of Madrid have decided not to create a special registry of medical professionals who, for personal beliefs, are unwilling to perform abortions. This move comes in response to a requirement from the central government, which previously gave one month for the formation of such lists in several regions, including Madrid, Aragón, and the Balearic Islands.

The regional administration stated it does not intend to single out or label either patients or doctors involved in abortion procedures. According to Madrid government officials, such lists could infringe on the rights of both women and medical professionals, and risk undermining anonymity and freedom of choice.

Continued: https://russpain.com/en/news-3/madrid-refuses-to-create-abortion-objector-doctor-registry-despite-government-demands-326522/

15.11.2025

News

belief-based care denial

conscientious objection

list of objectors

registry of objectors

Pedro Sanchez is compiling a blacklist of anti-abortion doctors

15 October 2025
Mark Nayler

Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s Socialist prime minister, has demanded that the regions of Aragon, Asturias, the Balearic Islands and Madrid – most of which are governed by the Conservative People’s party (PP) – compile lists of doctors who refuse to perform pregnancy terminations. Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the PP president of Madrid, has refused to publish what she calls a ‘blacklist’. The move is part of Sanchez’s plan to make abortion a constitutional right, following the example set by France last year.

Abortion has been legal in Spain since 1985, and in 2010 the 12-week rule, which allowed women to receive pregnancy terminations without having to give a reason, was increased to 14 weeks.

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/pedro-sanchez-is-compiling-a-blacklist-of-anti-abortion-doctors/

15.10.2025

Commentary

Alberto Núñez Feijóo

Association of Accredited Abortion Clinics

conscientious objection

Isabel Díaz Ayuso

Madrid College of Physicians

Manuel Martínez-Sellés

The Spanish government’s first step toward “shielding” abortion in the Constitution

The Council of Ministers will formally request the Community of Madrid to prepare the register of objectors.
(translation from Spanish)

Ot Serra
14/10/2025

The Council of Ministers took the first step this Tuesday to ""shield" abortion in the Constitution.
As announced by Spanish President Pedro Sánchez in an interview on Cadena SER, the government will request a consultative report from the Council of State to amend Article 43 of the Constitution and incorporate this women's right. "Women's right to voluntary termination of pregnancy is guaranteed. The exercise of this right, in any case, will be guaranteed by the public authorities, which will ensure its provision under conditions of effective equality, as well as the protection of women's fundamental rights," the new Article 43.4 of the Constitution states. "We are taking a step towards the victory of women and the recognition of their rights in the face of the reactionary wave that seeks to curtail them," emphasized the Minister of Equality, Ana Redondo.

Continued: https://en.ara.cat/society/the-spanish-government-s-first-step-toward-protecting-abortion-in-the-constitution_1_5528230.html

14.10.2025

News

abortion law reform

Ana Redondo

conscientious objectors

Why Public Hospitals in Spain Rarely Perform Abortions: Surprising Figures and Facts

Spanish Regional Budgets Spent 150 Million Euros on Abortions in Private Clinics

Ricardo Rubio
Oct 11, 2025

Over the past five years, Spain’s autonomous communities have allocated at least 150 million euros to fund abortions in private medical centers. This measure was forced by the inability of public hospitals to handle the volume of such procedures. In 2024, more than 106,000 terminations of pregnancy were performed in the country, with only one fifth taking place in public facilities.

In some regions, such as Madrid and Andalusia, the share of abortions performed in public hospitals was minimal—less than one percent. In the capital region, more than 162,000 such procedures were registered over a decade, but only 177 were carried out in public clinics. This disparity is due not only to a lack of resources, but also because many doctors refuse to participate in such procedures on personal grounds.

Continued: https://russpain.com/en/news-3/spanish-regional-budgets-spent-150-million-euros-on-abortions-in-private-clinics-299916/

11.10.2025

News

belief-based care denial

conscientious objection

Europe

Spain

Clinical

Lockdowns and Abortions: How Spain’s COVID-19 Restrictions Reduced Unintended Pregnancies

During Spain’s strict COVID-19 lockdown, abortions dropped sharply not because clinics closed, but because social restrictions led to fewer unintended pregnancies, especially among single women.

October 8, 2025
By: Sofia Karina Trommlerová and Libertad González

It is spring 2020 and Spain is unexpectedly going into one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns. Due to COVID-19, everyday life of Spaniards has come to an abrupt halt. Shops are closed, travel has stopped, and families must stay indoors for many weeks. Amid the well-known consequences—lost jobs, school closures, overflowing hospitals—something less visible is happening too: the number of abortions is falling sharply.

Fast-forward to 2025 — economists Sofia Karina Trommlerová and Libertad González examine what lay behind this unexpected drop. Using detailed administrative records of every abortion in Spain between 2016 and 2020, they show that abortions fell by about 24 percent during the two-month lockdown and remained below previous years’ levels for months afterward.

Continued: https://popcouncil.org/insight/lockdowns-and-abortions-how-spains-covid-19-restrictions-reduced-unintended-pregnancies/

08.10.2025

Commentary

Covid-19 and abortion

Libertad González

Sofia Karina Trommlerová

unintended pregnancies

Europe

Spain

Health

Spain govt proposes making abortion constitutional right

Oct 3, 2025
By AFP

Spain’s leftist government on Friday proposed anchoring the right to abortion in the constitution following a move by Madrid city hall to inform women about a supposed “post-abortion syndrome”.

The controversy erupted on Tuesday when Madrid city hall, controlled by the conservative Popular Party (PP) approved a far-right proposal to require medical services to notify women seeking abortions about this alleged syndrome.

The proposal claimed the syndrome could lead to alcohol and drug use, suicidal thoughts, and an increased risk of cancer.

Continued: https://www.macaubusiness.com/spain-govt-proposes-making-abortion-constitutional-right/

04.10.2025

News

abortion law reform

constitutional amendment on abortion

Jose Luis Almeida

Pedro Sanchez

Popular Party

post-abortion syndrome

SPAIN moves to enshrine abortion as constitutional right

Sánchez accused the PP of “merging with the far right”

Inés Fernández-Pontes, Euractiv
Oct 3, 2025

MADRID – The Spanish government on Friday proposed a constitutional reform to protect abortion rights, amid a political row between Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Party, the conservative Popular Party (PP) and far-right Vox over alleged misinformation promoted by Madrid’s PP-led city council.

“In a global context of attacks on sexual and reproductive rights, this step is needed to guarantee women’s freedom and autonomy,” government sources said. The initiative follows a PP–Vox-backed measure passed by Madrid PP-ruled city council obliging health centres to provide information on alleged “post-abortion trauma.”

Continued: https://www.euractiv.com/news/spain-moves-to-enshrine-abortion-as-constitutional-right/

03.10.2025

Spain – The group who helped women from Malaga have abortions in London

The first law on the termination of pregnancy was passed in Spain 40 years ago. Nevertheless, thousands of Spanish women still had to go to the UK for abortions

Cristina Vallejo
Monday, 2 June 2025

A women's bookshop became much more than that: a back room where people talked quietly; where money was raised to pay for plane tickets; meetings with strangers who lent spare rooms for a couple of nights; alibis for disappearing from the family home for the first time. This story takes place between Malaga and London. It recreates the events of the 1980s, to commemorate 40 years since the passing of the first abortion law of Spain's restored democracy.

The first approval established that abortion would not be "punishable" in any of the following circumstances: it was necessary to avoid a serious danger to the pregnant woman's life or physical or mental health, and that this was stated in an opinion issued by a doctor other than the one who was to perform the abortion; if the pregnancy was the result of rape; or if it was presumed that the foetus would be born "with serious physical or mental disabilities".

Continued: https://www.surinenglish.com/malaga/the-group-who-helped-women-from-malaga-20250602192346-nt.html

Spain to enshrine gay marriage and abortion rights into its constitution so ‘they cannot be undone in the future’

Dec 6, 2024
by Laurence Dollimore

PRIME Minister Pedro Sanchez today vowed to add abortion rights and gay marriage to Spain’s constitution so they ‘can never be undone’.

The left-wing PSOE leader made the announcement at an event marking the 46th anniversary of the Spanish Magna Carta – when the country left behind the Franco dictatorship and installed a parliamentary democracy.

“We believe that these are rights that we must protect in the Constitution so that no one can touch them in the future,” Sanchez said in a statement in parliament on Friday.

Continued: https://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2024/12/06/spain-to-enshrine-gay-marriage-and-abortion-rights-into-its-constitution-so-they-cannot-be-undone-in-the-future/

06.12.2024