Pro-abortion demonstrators from across Spain wave indicators in Madrid. Photograph: Dani Pozo/AFP/Getty Photos
Tens of 1000′s of Spaniards have taken to the streets of Madrid in a demonstrate of force against government programs to roll back access to abortion in the country.
Waving homemade indications with messages this kind of as “My ovaries: not those of priests, nor of politicians”, the crowd chanted and whistled as it snaked its way by means of central Madrid on Saturday. Police stated far more than 15,000 had turned out.
“We are right here to protest towards a government that wants to get us back to the times of Franco,” said one particular demonstrator, Manuel Navarro. “We are stepping backwards with this law.”
In late December the governing People’s celebration accredited legislation that would severely curtail accessibility to abortion in the nation. Given that 2010, girls in Spain have had the appropriate to an abortion until the 14th week of pregnancy. In situations the place the mother’s health is at danger or when the foetus shows significant deformities, Spanish ladies can terminate the pregnancy until finally the 22nd week. Below the new measures place forward by the government, abortions in Spain would only be allowed in the situation of rape or when there is a threat to the physical or psychological overall health of the mother. Girls wanting abortions will need to have the approval of two medical pros to show these situations.
Carmen Veiga was virtually in tears as she surveyed the huge crowd. During the holidays, she and a couple of other females in the northern Spanish city of Gijón had come up with the idea of travelling to Madrid to supply a letter to the government demanding that it abandon the legislation. Seats on their “freedom train” were filled within days, prompting other towns and cities across the country to do the identical.
The consequence, explained Veiga, was a coming collectively of protest movements from across the country and the strongest demonstrate of force observed given that the government announced the measures just more than a month in the past. “It is amazing to see all these folks come with each other to defend women’s rights,” she mentioned. “And it is needed – what they are attempting to do is a brutal reversal of women’s rights.”
A lot more than 300 groups worked to organise the protest, and it showed in the selection of the attendees, who ranged from toddlers to senior citizens. Women’s groups pointed out that thousands of guys had joined the protest.
“This law impacts us just as considerably – we’re dad and mom as well,” said Rodrigo Martínez Barrios, twenty. “To me, this sounds like a return to the Middle Ages.” He was also suspicious of the timing of the bill. “Politicians are making use of this concern to distract us from the larger issues – the corruption, the crisis, the economic system of this nation.”
A single girl said she had woken up at 5am to make the 280-mile journey from Santander to Madrid. Carmen, who did not want to give her final title, looked about nervously ahead of leaning in to clarify why it was so important that she be here right now.
“This is my battle,” she explained, her voice shaking. Thirty many years earlier, she had travelled to London for an abortion. “I did not communicate a word of English. But I didn’t know what else to do.” A condom had broken and they knew they could not afford to increase a third kid.
“It was heartbreaking. And it was even worse that I had to depart my nation to do it or risk going to jail.” She and her husband scraped together whatever cash they could, draining their daily life savings to send her to London alone. “I am right here nowadays simply because I by no means want my grandchildren to go by way of that,” mentioned the 63-year-outdated.
Her voice rose as she extra: “It can’t be that following 30 years we’re back in the identical scenario. That signifies we’re not advancing as a country.”
The proposed measures come as statistics demonstrate that the number of abortions in Spain is on the decline. Nevertheless, the modifications are getting championed by the Roman Catholic church – a strong force in a country the place 70% of the population say they are Catholic. “The church would like to return to a time when they managed us, when they suffocated us. They want to get us backwards,” stated protester Mercedes López.
The People’s celebration has explained repeatedly that the scaling back of abortion laws was an election promise that it need to now fulfil. As polls demonstrate that among 70% and 80% of Spaniards are against the adjustments, the party’s stance has place it at odds with its electorate.
Current weeks have observed prime minister Mariano Rajoy soften his stance on the bill. “The constitution and different opinions will be taken into account,” he told parliament last week. The Spanish congress, in which the People’s party holds a robust vast majority, is anticipated to pass the bill in late spring.
Thousands of professional-abortion protesters collect in Spain
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