MADRID – Spain’s Constitutional Court on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit by the conservative People’s Party against a law allowing abortions in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.
The legal challenge “did not receive the support” of the court, the ruling said. The legal argument of the main opposition party PP had focused on the constitutionality of the right to life of the fetus.
Four new judges were appointed to the 12-member court last year, shifting the political balance to the left.
“The abortion law is constitutional,” tweeted Spain’s Equality Minister Irene Montero, who represents the far-left United We Can party in the coalition government. “Never again should 13 years be wasted questioning a single right” for women.
Such delays are not uncommon in Spanish courts.
Abortion has once again become a politically sensitive issue in an election year in Spain. A far-right member of Castile and Leon’s regional government suggested in January that doctors should give women the opportunity to listen to the fetus’s heartbeat and see four-dimensional ultrasound scans before any abortion procedure. The idea was later dropped. The regional governments of Spain are responsible for public health policy at regional level.
The 2010 abortion law was a major change for a traditionally Catholic country led by former Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. The law allowed on-demand abortions up to 14 weeks and up to 22 weeks when there was a serious threat to the mother’s health or a fetal malformation.
The People’s Party has long sided with the Roman Catholic Church on moral and social issues. However, after the court’s decision, the current leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, said that the existing window for access to abortion in Spain was “right” and that he would respect the court’s decision.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, transcribed or redistributed without permission.
