First modification:
The Council of Ministers of Spain approved this Tuesday a reform to the organic law in force since February 2010, which expands sexual, reproductive and menstrual rights, will give easy access to contraceptives, early sexual education and free abortions, among other things.
The Minister for Equality, Irene Montero, together with other authorities of the Spanish Government announced the news at a press conference and assured that the reform helps to solve problems, guarantee rights and the development of women’s life projects. In addition, “institutions assume the responsibility of leaving behind the stigmas and prejudices about bodies,” said Montero.
The new law establishes free abortion as a woman’s right up to the 14th week of pregnancy and up to the 22nd in case of risk to the life or health of the pregnant woman. It will also be allowed in case of serious anomalies in the fetus.
Young people between 16 and 17 years old and women with disabilities will be able to abort without having to have the consent of their parents, a point that had been regressed since 2015, under the Executive of the conservative Mariano Rajoy.
“Surely the vast majority of young people will trust their fathers, mothers, their families, their friends, when they face, if they so wish, a voluntary interruption of pregnancy, what the state guarantees them is that the decision will be theirs” , pointed out the head of Equality.
Other relevant aspects of the new law
For those who wish to interrupt their pregnancy, the three days of reflection as well as receiving information about motherhood will no longer be mandatory. In addition, they will be able to go to the public hospital center closest to their homes to guarantee “that they do not have to travel hundreds of kilometers, as is the case now in many autonomous communities,” according to Montero.
Health care institutions must have staff available, so it will be an exception that they are carried out in private centers, where 85% of abortion interventions are currently performed.
The draft bill includes free morning-after pills through Social Security, financing for new-generation contraceptives, prenatal leave from week 39, and compulsory sex education from infancy. Barrier contraceptive methods and hygiene products will also be distributed in secondary schools.
Surrogacy, also known as “wombs for rent”, is established in this law as a form of violence against women and an attack on human rights, for which its advertising is prohibited. The State will investigate the persons and agencies that develop this practice, but will not impose penalties on those who use the services of these companies.
Regulated disability for women suffering from painful menstruation
Likewise, Spain will become the first country in Europe to regulate temporary incapacity for work in the event that menstruation is painful and disabling, recognizing, through a law, menstrual health as part of the sexual and reproductive rights of women. women.
According to Marta Busquets, an expert lawyer in law, gender and health, in an interview for France 24 she pointed out that the project regulates aspects that are already happening, but now it offers women the opportunity to be paid while they keep their rest indicated by a medical.
“For example, health associations that have to do with endometriosis (the disease by which the cells of the lining of the uterus develop in other areas of the body), their users are already resorting to medical leave. The law tries to regularize this situation and I hope it can be maintained”.
The Government wants the text to enter into force before the end of the legislature, so it will take it through the urgent route, however it will have to obtain the reports from the advisory bodies and then return to the Council of Ministers and start its discussion in the Congress and the Senate, a process in which it will be susceptible to modifications.
With information from EFE and local media
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