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News, September 2010New abortion law goes into practiceOn July 5th the new abortion law began its life. What was until now a crime, is now 'a right' in the first 14 weeks. Girls over 16 will get abortions without parental permission free on the Social Security, even though many abortions will still be undertaken in private clinics on the government's behalf. This is due to the fact that many Social Security gynaecologists are 'conscientious objectors'. However, the Constitutional Court has taken their complaints into consideration and accepted the request of the opposition Partido Popular to consider the legitimacy of the law. This has not held up its introduction. Irregular Regional ImplementationHealth care is dependent on the regional governments, not all in full agreement with government policy. As a result, Navarre and Murcia immediately became 'conscientious objectors' and navarre said it would refer girls seeking abortion to other regions. In Valencia the government has stated it will ensure all girls are given not only information concerning the possible medical-physical side-effects, but also psychological, social and ethical issues. For example, they will have to be shown a 3D ultrasound picture of the baby. A committee of experts is to prepare the instructions on information to be given. Meanwhile, it is feared those regions led by 'progressive' government may provide only rudimentary information. March. In November 2009 a new abortion law went before the Congress. This has been long months in the planning stage and finally comes to full political debate. With the Roman Catholic influenced Partido Popular on the opposition benches, the law got a narrow victory. Main items are the closing of a clause which has allowed almost any woman to abort at any stage of pregnancy, but it now gives full freedom to abort up to 14 weeks. Assuming it passes the final stages, it is to become law on 5th July. A march on 6th March called for its cancellation. The clause which has been increasingly abused over recent years says that if the woman's physical or psychological condition requires it, a 'termination' can be done at any moment. The original idea was to allow life-threatening situations to be resolved, but the psychological issues are now usually just personal momentary convenience. Despite closing this clause, doctors remain unconvinced that similar interpretations would not allow such practices to continue. Most abortions have been carried out in private clinics. Again, the bill allows for abortion to be performed regularly in public hospitals. Evangelicals are evidently in the main against the new bill, but can hardly call for retention of the old one with a clear conscience. The time is now coming for evangelicals to stand up and offer practical help, not just join with other groups on barricades. One such help project is about to get under way under the auspices of a recently established NGO, MasQueSalud. Its AGM on 12th June saw the official launch of the preparation project, aiming to recruit and train volunteers for a crisis pregnancy counselling service in Mallorca. The pro-life March for Life held on March 6th was co-led by gypsy pastor Juan José Cortés, father of MariLuz, the little girl who went missing and was subsequently found dead in spring 2008 in Huelva. You can read his speech (in Spanish) on Protestante Digital. More: On a similar ethical issue, it appears that Spain is also more liberal than other countries. IVF raises a lot of questions concerning the fate of the many embryos which do not become babies. The Daily Telegraph reports. |