Rajoy speaks to the media yesterday during the 8th Communication World Forum in Madrid. He said that the lack of consensus has forced the government to withdraw the reform of the abortion law, but he stressed that the announced amendment to force the parental consent for children under 18 years will remain.
Reuters/Madrid
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has scrapped proposed changes in the abortion law that would have made Spain one of the most difficult countries in Europe in which to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, prompting the justice minister to resign.
The bill had proposed allowing abortion only in the case of rape or if the pregnancy posed a serious health risk to the mother.
It had deeply divided the centre-right People’s Party (PP) as well as being unpopular with the electorate.
“As president of the government, I have taken the most sensible decision,” Rajoy told reporters in Madrid.
Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, architect of the proposed reform, resigned. The former mayor of Madrid said he would step down from politics.
Rajoy said that the subject of abortion stirred up great differences of opinion and the government had done all it could to reach consensus.
Opposition politicians welcomed the move.
“We are celebrating this withdrawal,” said Carmen Monton of the opposition Socialists. “It was about time Rajoy realised he cannot meddle with women’s freedom.”
Rajoy said that the government would instead look into modifying existing law so that young women of 16 and 17 could not terminate a pregnancy without their parents’ consent.
The government would take measures to support families by the end of the year, he said, without elaborating.
The ruling PP had promised abortion reform in its 2011 campaign, but the bill announced last year angered women’s groups and led to huge street protests and complaints from leading doctors.
Polls showed most Spaniards rejected it.
The PP has an absolute majority in parliament, allowing it to pass laws without the support of other parties, but this proposed reform had stirred dissent amongst its own members.
“We will continue to look for ways to reach the widest consensus,” said Rajoy. “We cannot have a law that will change within the first 30 seconds of a new government entering power.”
Political analysts said the draft law had likely been dropped because it was divisive within the PP rather than an attempt to win votes from the centre of the political spectrum, as the party could lose votes from the right as a consequence.
Anti-abortion activist group “Right to Life” said that it would start a campaign to stop Spaniards voting for Rajoy.
Thousands of Spaniards had marched on Sunday urging Rajoy to comply with his election promise to restrict abortion.
“We find ourselves with a prime minister who has betrayed his core supporters,” said Gador Joya, spokeswoman for the group. “Mr Rajoy has shown that he is not to be trusted because he does not have principles.”
The previous Socialist government changed the abortion law in 2010, allowing women to terminate unwanted pregnancies on demand within 14 weeks, or up to 22 weeks in cases of severe abnormalities, putting Spain in line with most of Western Europe.
Abortion was first decriminalised in Spain in 1985 in the cases of malformed foetuses, rape or potential mental or physical damage to the mother.
Most European countries offer abortion on request, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), with 88% allowing the termination of pregnancies if the foetus is thought to be impaired or in cases of rape or incest.
Justice minister quits
AFP/Madrid
Spain’s Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon announced yesterday that he was resigning after failing to push through a controversial reform to limit women’s access to abortions.
“I have decided not only to leave the justice ministry but also to give up politics,” he told a news conference, hours after Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said the government had abandoned the reform.
Ruiz-Gallardon, 55, was the first of the current government’s ministers to be forced to quit since the conservative Popular Party (PP) took power in 2011.
Rajoy’s government has survived protests over corruption scandals, economic cutbacks and labour reforms, but the abortion reform proved too divisive.
As well as street demonstrations by both opponents and supporters of abortion reform, it sparked dissent within the ruling party itself.
Ruiz-Gallardon left his post as mayor of Madrid to join Rajoy’s government in December 2011.
“I will not take up any more political posts,” he said yesterday, announcing the end to his 30-year career.
