Spain Officials Arrest Seven More People in Illegal Late-Term Abortion Sting

International   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Dec 17, 2007   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Spain Officials Arrest Seven More People in Illegal Late-Term Abortion Sting Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
December 17,
2007

Barcelona, Spain (LifeNews.com) — Officials in Spain have arrested seven more people in connection with a sting operation that has closed four abortion facilities and netted six people already. The case involves abortion businesses that were allegedly doing illegal late-term abortions that were promoted as far away as Britain and the Netherlands.

Spain has legalized most abortions, but physicians must sign off on those done later in pregnancy supposedly because of health concerns to the mother.

Last month, Spanish authorities started the raids after a pro-life group called E-Cristians filed a complaint following a television report by a Denmark station featuring an undercover investigation showing Carlos Morin, who runs the four abortion businesses, offering an abortion to a reporter who was seven-months pregnant at the time.

Morin gave the journalist a form she could use to falsely claim she had a mental disorder that allowed her to have the late-term abortion. He also said he would inject a poison that would kill the baby and the woman would give birth to a stillborn child.

He was among those arrested.

On Monday, media outlets in Spain reported the arrest of seven more abortion facility staff members.

They included staff psychologists who were supposed to certify that the late-term abortions fell under the medical reasons the European nation outlines as legitimate reasons for one.

The staff members are accused of falsifying medical reports on the mental health status of the women getting the abortions.

According to Spanish media, three of the original six arrested are still in prison on remand, including Morin and his wife Maria Luisa. Three abortion practitioners have been granted bail at a rate of 2,000 to 4,000 Euros (about $2900-$5800 US).

The facilities drew women from across Europe and came under fire in Malta for offering free abortions there even though the nation prohibits abortion. They also received referrals from British and Dutch doctors who wouldn’t do such late-term abortions in their nations.

Approximately eighty percent of the abortions done at the Spanish abortion business are performed on British women, the British press reported. Other women come from France and Portugal.

Local authorities also found that the abortion centers in question were flushing the bodies of the dead babies down the drain.

Spain legalized abortion in 1985 up to 22 weeks into pregnancy. Abortions after 22 weeks of pregnancy can only be performed if the mother’s physical or mental health is at risk.