Spain’s Minister of Equality Irene Montero looks down during a press conference in Madrid on January 27. The Spanish Parliament on Thursday passed a law expanding abortion and transgender rights for young people, It also made Spain the first country in Europe to allow workers to take paid leave.
Manu Fernandez/AP
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Manu Fernandez/AP
Spain’s Minister of Equality Irene Montero looks down during a press conference in Madrid on January 27. The Spanish Parliament on Thursday passed a law expanding abortion and transgender rights for young people, It also made Spain the first country in Europe to allow workers to take paid leave.
Manu Fernandez/AP
MADRID – Spain’s parliament on Thursday passed a law extending abortion and transgender rights to teenagers, making Spain the first country in Europe to allow workers to paid leave.
The driving force behind the two bills is Equality Minister Irene Montero, who is a junior member of Spain’s left-wing coalition government, the “Unity We Can” Party.
Changes to sexual and reproductive rights mean 16- and 17-year-olds in Spain can now have abortions without parental consent. Menstrual cycle products will now be made available for free in schools and prisons, while state-run medical centers will do the same with hormonal contraceptives. and oral contraceptives in the morning. Menstrual leave allows workers suffering from physical impairment to receive paid leave.
In addition, there are changes to the state hospital abortion rights law. Currently, more than 80% of termination procedures in Spain are carried out in private clinics because a large number of doctors in the public system refuse to perform them – for various religious reasons.
Under the new system, state hospital doctors will not be forced to perform abortions, as long as they have registered their objection in writing.
The abortion law builds on the one passed in 2010, representing a major change to a traditionally Catholic country, transforming Spain into one of the most progressive countries in Europe. on reproductive rights. Spain’s constitutional court last week rejected a challenge by the right-wing People’s Party against allowing abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.
A separate package of reforms also passed by lawmakers on Thursday strengthened transgender rights, including allowing any citizen over the age of 16 to change their legally registered gender without consent. No medical supervision required.
Minors aged 12-13 will need a judge’s permission to change, while those aged 14 to 16 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.
In the past, transgender people needed to be diagnosed with gender dysphoria by some doctors. The second law also bans so-called “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ people and provides state support to lesbians and single women seeking IVF treatment.
The centre-left coalition government is now under fire over another key Montero project, a new sex consent law that aims to strengthen protections against rape but has inadvertently allowed hundreds of sex offenders to have their sentences reduced. prison.
The “Just Means Yes” law makes verbal consent a key ingredient in cases of alleged sexual assault. The government is currently struggling to come up with a revised version and end the controversy ahead of elections later this year.
The three initiatives have faced strong opposition from the right-wing parties that form Spain’s main opposition bloc.
