Spain is fortifying its position as the deadly spearhead of the permanent anthropological revolution taking place in Europe, once again hiding behind the hypocritical euphemism of “reproductive rights.”
The reform just enacted by the social-communist government led by Pedro Sánchez provides for the broadening of the Organic law on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy, approved in 2010, during the time of another socialist (and nihilist) executive, that of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
A single light among many shadows
The most radical change is the possibility for minors 16 and under to have an abortion without parental consent. The three-day (reflexive) waiting period before deciding whether or not to proceed with the abortion and the requirement to be informed about the procedure have also been eliminated.
An earlier draft of the law stipulated that abortion would be guaranteed in all public hospitals, a point later changed to the right of pregnant women to access public or private facilities that perform abortions. Thus, conscientious objection remains safeguarded.
Other relevant points: the Law envisages the free distribution of the so-called morning-after (Plan B) pills by the health care system and mandatory sex education in schools starting in early childhood.
Paid menstrual leave of up to five days is also provided: in the event that the pains caused by a woman’s period become painful to the point of being disabling, the woman can obtain an ad hoc medical certificate, as long as it is a diagnostically verified PMS syndrome.
The only positive aspect of the new Spanish law is that “womb rental” remains illegal and the penalties for those who engage in this practice have become stricter. Indeed, couples who use surrogacy abroad will be prosecuted, and advertisements to surrogacy agencies remain prohibited.
Self-satisfied government
“The time of going to work stuffed with pills and having to hide the fact that on menstrual days, we suffer pain that prevents us from working is over,” says Irene Montero, Spain’s equality minister and a female symbol of the new Iberian institutional feminism.
“We are the first country in Europe to regulate special temporary permits for painful menstruation covered entirely by the state,” the Minister proudly added.
No less self-congratulatory was Premier Pedro Sanchez’s comment, “We approve in #CMin [Council of Ministers, ed.] the #LeySaludSexual that expands women’s sexual and menstrual rights, guarantees abortion on equal terms, and protects their rights in the reproductive sphere,” Sanchez tweeted. “We advance in feminism. Women should be able to freely decide their own lives.”
Constitutional Court rejection: a remote possibility
When the previous law on “reproductive rights” and abortion was passed, the People’s Party (then, as now, in opposition) appealed to the Constitutional Court in Madrid.
According to the El Pais daily, the possibility that the Populars might appeal again today, however, is remote, simply because the court has vowed to finally discuss the appeal from 12 years ago. Should the 2010 law be found unlawful, the bill currently under discussion would also be automatically blocked.
Vox MPs also want to appeal against the new law, once parliament has passed it. Again, however, a rejection is unlikely, inasmuch as the Court is composed of seven progressive justices and only five conservatives.