Spain Cabinet Approves Measure to Expand Abortions, No Parental Involvement
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 28, 2009
Madrid, Spain (LifeNews.com) — Last Friday, the Cabinet of the government of Spain approved a draft bill that would expand abortions and legalize them up to the fourteenth week of pregnancy. The measure has upset pro-life advocates, but the government made it worse by saying parental involvement won’t be allowed.
That means teenagers between the ages of 16 and 18 who can get abortions will not have to either inform their parents about their abortion nor obtain their consent.
The proposal passed a cabinet meeting of the country’s ruling socialist party and now goes before the nation’s parliament.
The socialist government say the law is about "rights and respect" but pro-life advocates and the Catholic Church are strongly opposed to it.
The Spanish Family Forum is denouncing the proposal and calling for votes against it.
The group said the abortion expansion is "morally degrading" to the country and makes it "unfair and unsupportive." It also accused the government of "serving and protecting the interests of the clinics that have made abortion a business" to the detriment of the right to life "for the most defenseless human being, the unborn."
The forum also lamented "the absolute indifference of the government as women are forced to have abortions because of lack of support."
The president of the ETF, Benigno Blanco, said "We are among millions of Spanish who are not willing to get used to abortion, or to legitimize its practice, because at stake is the right to life which is the substrate of all human rights."
Meanwhile, Spain is now the latest nation to allow over-the-counter purchase of the morning after pill without a prescription from a doctor. The government of Spain announced the decision in May to approve sales of the Plan B drug with no age restrictions and that decision becomes effective today.
Until now, the drug has been a prescription only one and some pro-life, Catholic doctors have refused to write prescriptions for it because it violates their moral views.
Spain’s Health Minister Trinidad Jiminez announced the move and said the government doesn’t want women to rely on the morning after pill as their main form of contraception.
“It is an emergency method of contraception, not to be used except in emergencies,” she said. “We don’t want it to become another means of contraception.”
Anyone can purchase the Plan B drug for under 20 euros, (£18 or $25) and anyone purchasing the drug will receive materials promoting contraception when they do.
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