This Monday, December 2, the Senate will be the scene of the VI Transatlantic Summit organized by the Political Values Network, an event with an agenda marked by its anti-abortion and reactionary ideology. In a context fully conditioned by the rise of ultraconservative speechesthis meeting represents yet another questioning of the sexual and reproductive rights of women. “It is not just a controversial act; it is an attack on fundamental human rights“he warns in a conversation with Public María Eugenia Rodríguez Palopprofessor of Human Rights and MEP during the last term in the European Left.
The summit cannot be understood as an isolated event. It is part of an international network that seeks to normalize retrograde ideas, such as “fetal heartbeat” laws or the criminalization of LGTBI+ rights, as is already happening in the “gender ideology-free” zones in Poland. These policies have been supported by governments such as Orbán’s in Hungary, where the Constitution was reformed to restrict marriage to unions between men and women.
“Giving room for misogynistic and LGBTIphobic speeches in a chamber like the Senate, which represents all citizens, is an affront to democracy“, Rodríguez Palop severely denounces. “It is unacceptable that public funds to finance an event that violates the basic principles of our legislation“, emphasizes the teacher.
The right to abortion, although not recognized as fundamental autonomously in the Spanish Constitution, “is based on rights such as life, health and physical integrity.” Therefore, this summit, adds Rodríguez Palop, “undermines not only the freedoms achieved, but also the spirit of our laws.”
He feminist movement has not remained still in the face of this far-right display. In fact, the Feminismos Tetuán association has made a call to action through a rally called in front of the Opera Metro at 8:00 a.m. this Monday. “We cannot allow public institutions to become loudspeakers for messages that They criminalize women and restrict their autonomy. Let’s go out to the streets to defend our rights,” they proclaim in statements to Public from the Madrid Abortion Commission, who will also support the protest.
The Political Values Network has among its ranks openly extremist figures such as José Antonio Kast, defender of the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile; or Jaime Mayor Oreja, Minister of the Interior during the Governments of José María Aznar. Among the confirmed speakers is, for example, Lucy Akello, a Ugandan MP who supports the death penalty against homosexuals. Also included until last Wednesday was George Peter Kaluma, a Kenyan parliamentarian who considers homosexuality a sin and a perversion, and who defends life imprisonment for gay men and lesbian women. These are not isolated cases, but rather a general trend.
The celebration of this ultra event in the Upper House was approved unanimously of the Senate Boardwith four favorable votes from the PP and three from the PSOE. Although the Socialist Group demanded a posteriori together with the BNG, ERC, EH Bildu, PNV and the Confederal Left to prohibit the holding of the summit.
However, the conservative majority of the Senate Board decided last Tuesday, November 26, not admit for processing the two registered motions jointly by these formations to stop its celebration. A fact that the signatories consider “unbecoming of a democratic body.” The groups criticize that the popular ones have vetoed “the majority sentiment of society and which constitutes the defense of current legislation.”
Furthermore, they consider that the PP’s decision “contravenes the arguments that the president of the Equality Commission of the territorial chamber – a member of the Popular Party –” pointed out during the meeting of the board and spokespersons of said body, held last October 9, “that said commission is the body in which the debate should take place.”
SEDRA, the Family Planning Federation, also spoke out on the matter a few weeks ago. The organization considers that “the growing public presence of these groups must be responded to with political action and pedagogy by all sectors that, from respect for democracy and freedom, recognize and incorporate respect for personal and social life.” dignified life”.
In this sense, Raquel Hurtado, spokesperson for the association, highlighted that “the majority of the Spanish population is aligned with these rights, which are also included in the abortion law, Therefore, it is the job of public authorities to make them known and ensure their compliance.”
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