Spain has criminalised the harassment or intimidation of women going for an abortion under new legislation approved by the Senate last week.
The Guardian reports that the move, which involves changes to the penal code, means anti-abortion activists who try to convince women not to terminate their pregnancies could face up to a year behind bars. The measure was proposed by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Party and will come into effect after being published in the official state bulletin in coming days.
Anyone trying “to impede a woman from exercising her right to voluntarily interrupt pregnancy” through “bothersome, offensive, intimidating or threatening acts” will face jail time of between three and 12 months, or community service, the text reads. In practice, the legislation criminalises protests outside abortion clinics.
The ban also applies to the harassment or intimidation of healthcare professionals working at abortion clinics. Staunchly Catholic Spain decriminalised abortion in 1985 in cases of rape, if a foetus is malformed, or if a birth poses a serious physical or psychological risk to the mother. The scope of the law was broadened in 2010 to allow abortion on demand in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.
The Guardian article – Spain bans harassment of women having abortions (Open access)
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