Spanish lawmakers Thursday approved a bill to legalise abortion, overriding a wall of protest from the Roman Catholic Church and the conservative opposition.

Tabled by the Socialist government, the abortion reform won backing from 184 deputies in Spain’s 350-seat lower chamber. It will now go to the upper-house Senate before returning to parliament for final approval.

It comes as the Government is planning to reform abortion law

The President of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, CEE, Juan Antonio Martínez Camino, said on Friday that ‘taking the life of an innocent human is something that should never be morally accepted, and the laws have the obligation to protect this right. Abortion is a sin’, he said, and went on to say that he did not understand why it is not a crime.

The Equality Minister has indicated a possible modification to the contentious issue of a termination at 16 without parental consent

The government’s planned reforms to the Abortion Law have passed their first hurdle in parliament, passing a vote in Congress this Thursday with the support of MPs from six parties, including the governing Socialists. The figures from Público are: 180 votes in favour, 163 against and 3 abstentions.

IT was billed as the biggest outpouring of emotion against the abortion law yet.

Organisers claimed that millions poured through the streets of Madrid in an anti-abortion protest last week, while the media and police estimated numbers of around 250,000.

In fact, just 55,316 brave souls made it onto the streets to oppose the government’s plan to increase the legal period from 14 to 22 weeks, according to an independent company Lynce that has found a scientific answer to estimating crowd numbers.

Thousands of people are expected to march through the Spanish capital Madrid to oppose government plans to liberalise the country’s abortion law.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero wants to introduce abortion on demand.

At present, a pregnancy can only be terminated in Spain under specific circumstances.

It is the latest in a series of ethical issues which have pitted the Socialist cabinet against Spain’s Catholic right.

‘Rights and respect’

The so-called “morning-after” contraception pill was available in Spain without prescription for the first time Monday, in a bid to limit the number of unwanted pregnancies, the health ministry said.

“It’s important to facilitate access to all women, irrespective of their place of residence, as it is important to take this pill in the 72 hours after sexual relations,” said Health Minister Trinidad Jimenez.

Spain’s socialist government has formally unveiled plans to liberalise the country’s abortion law.

Under the proposal approved by the cabinet, abortion would be made available on demand for the first time.

Girls as young as 16 would be allowed to terminate a pregnancy without parental consent.
Ministers say it is about “rights and respect” for women. The conservative opposition says young people may see abortion as a form of contraception.

A leading opposition politician has announced that he will be attending a march against the controversial amendments next month

The Equality Minister says she hopes to take the government’s planned reform of the Abortion Law to the next Cabinet meeting, next Friday, after the Consejo de Estado accepted last week that the reforms are constitutional. They recommended, however, that parents should be involved if an underage girl wants to terminate her pregnancy unless there are well-founded reasons that would cause a serious conflict at home if her parents were informed.

It will be available at pharmacies before the end of September with no age limit

The Health Minister, Trinidad Jiménez, has announced that the morning after pill will be available over the counter at pharmacies in Spain without prescription before the end of the month. She gave the news in an interview with Cadena Ser on Monday.