A Spanish parliamentary committee approved a report on reform of Spain's restrictive abortion laws last week that recommends the legalization of first trimester abortions. Currently, abortion is legal in Spain only in cases of rape, severe fetal abnormalities, or when the mother's mental or physical health is at risk, according to Agence France Presse.
The report comes from an expert panel of doctors, lawyers, academics, and government representatives appointed by the Spanish government in September 2008. The panel's role is to recommend how to best amend Spain's current abortion law, which dates to 1985, to bring Spanish law more in line with other European countries.
The panel's recommendations will influence the content of a draft bill that will be introduced in the legislature this year. According to the Telegraph, reform of abortion laws is part of the social change program undertaken by Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose Socialist government has removed religion from the public education curriculum, reformed divorce laws, and legalized gay marriage since assuming to power in 2004.
Media Resources: Feminist Daily Newswire 9/9/08; Agence France Presse 2/19/09; Telegraph 2/20/09
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