The Spanish Government initiates constitutional reform to shield the right to abortion

On Tuesday, the Spanish Government launched measures to guarantee the right to abortion, both through constitutional reform and by calling on three autonomous communities governed by the PP to create records of conscientious objectors to comply with the law.

On Tuesday, the Council of Ministers promoted a reform of the Constitution to guarantee the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy, although this amendment will require the support of the PP to move forward.

The Government is aware that it will not be easy to push through the reform of the Constitution, as the Minister for Equality, Ana Redondo, has acknowledged, since it will take three fifths of Congress and the Senate, so only a vote in favour of the PP would allow abortion to be included in the Constitution.

The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, has recalled that Feijóo has defended the right to abortion on several occasions and has hoped that when the reform of the Constitution comes to Congress the people will support it, since they should have "no problem, no political or intellectual problems".

At the press conference following the Council of Ministers, the Minister for Equality expressed her hope that "the PP will rise to this challenge and join the defence of women's rights" and promised to "seek dialogue" and "reconcile wills" to achieve this.

Following the announcement of the ordinary reform of the Constitution, namely Article 43 of the Right to Health, the People's Leader has not spoken out, although in recent days, when the issue has been raised, he has opposed constitutional reform.

On Monday, the PP leader stressed that his party has a "very clear" position on abortion, as he recalled that abortion has been legal for decades and that this benefit is included in the health sector, fully incorporated into the legal system.

However, the President of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, spoke on Tuesday and insisted that there will be no "blacklist" of doctors in her community, referring to the registration of objectors prescribed by the abortion law.

Ordinary reform of article 43

The Government's proposal to reform the Constitution to ensure abortion shall be ordinary and shall amend Article 43 on the right to health.

In particular, a new section, the fourth, will be introduced which will recognise the right of women to voluntarily terminate their pregnancy and oblige the public authorities to guarantee this benefit on conditions of effective equality for all citizens.

"Women are granted the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy, the exercise of which shall, in any case, be guaranteed by the public authorities on conditions of effective equality and the protection of the fundamental rights of women", is the text proposed for constitutional reform.

The proposal comes to the Council of Ministers after intense negotiations between the PSOE and Sumar. Early in the morning, the Socialist Government member expressed concern about the formula chosen and warned that the mere mention of abortion in the Constitution would be of no use and could even pose risks.

In the end, the two parties have agreed on a text which the Summary welcomes as a starting point and which, according to Redondo, unites all the interpretation that the Constitutional Court has so far made of abortion.

Once agreed, the Government has forwarded it to the Council of State, which shall decide within two months. This is a necessary step before the text reaches Congress for parliamentary proceedings.

Requests to Madrid, Aragon and the Balearic Islands

In parallel with these first steps to introduce the right to abortion into the Constitution, and in the face of the reluctance of some communities governed by the PP, the Ministry of Health has sent a formal request to the Community of Madrid, Aragon and the Balearic Islands to register conscientious objectors to abortion, as required by law.

If the Department of Health does not receive a reply within one month, it shall initiate proceedings before the courts to be compelled by a judge.