Spain has an advanced law in abortion, with deadlines until week 14 and assumptions extended until 22. The difficult thing is to take it to the real field. Access depends on the Autonomous Community, the degree of involvement of public health and, too many times, on the economic capacity of women. While the law ensures universal coverage, many interventions are carried out in private and not a few women are forced to move. In that context it is born I want to go .orga portal that aims to become a compass in front of a system that, despite legal reforms, continues to raise obstacles on a day -to -day basis.
A new release. The Ministries of Health and Equality have launched a website, presented at the act for the 40 years of the legalization of abortion. The portal offers what the government calls a “safe public space”, designed to guide women in a system that still varies a lot from one autonomous community to another. The platform It has been elaborated For health health health and activists, it is based on scientific evidence and guidelines of organizations such as WHO, Figo, Fiapac or Sego, and has the accreditation of the College of Physicians of Barcelona.
It is not just an informative portal, what it seeks is to offer practical guidance, accompaniment and concrete resources. Therefore, the website includes a WhatsApp number attended by professionals from Monday to Friday, as well as a telephone line available on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, managed by formed volunteers. In addition, it will have a legal, emotional and technical support service for women who need to interrupt their pregnancy beyond week 22.
The law vs. reality. Spain opened the door to abortion In 1985, although in a very restricted way: only in three assumptions priced by law. The great transformation came in 2010, with A BADE LAW which the decision of women recognized for the first time as sufficient reason until week 14. The norm also contemplated interruptions until Week 22 in medical cases. The last reform arrived in 2023where the three -day reflection period was abolished, the autonomy of children under 16 and 17 years was recognized without the need for paternal permission and the obligation to create a record of objectors of consciousness was established. The latter was carried out so that public health was not overflowed or blocked by the refusal of professionals.
In August 2024, only five communities had launched the registration of conscientious objectors – La Rioja, Murcia, Cantabria, Catalonia and the Canary Islands—, According to data cited by the country. The lack of this instrument in the rest generates an unequal application of the law and keeps many women dependent on private clinics or transfers to other provinces. Besides, As Efe points outallegations of harassment persist at the gates of clinics and bureaucratic delays in the procedure.
A fragmented map. The Ministry of Health has published that in 2024 106,172 voluntary interruptions of pregnancy (IVE) were recorded, which is equivalent to a rate of 12.36 per 1,000 women between 15 and 44 years. The figure reflects a slight increase Regarding 2023. According to the data, the general photo reveals an obvious gap: almost eight out of ten abortions (78.7%) were carried out in private clinics, while public health assumed only 21.2% of the total.
Hence, the website has been launched, designed to overcome the territorial differences that continue to mark real access to abortion. In territories such as Cantabria, more than 88% of IVE are carried out in public hospitals, while in La Rioja and Navarra the proportion exceeds 75%. In Galicia, three out of four abortions are practiced in the public network.
The distribution of abortions in Spain reflects unequal access to the public system. In Madrid, more than 162,000 women interrupted their pregnancy in the last decade, but only 177 could do so in a public hospital. In other territories, such as Extremadura, Ceuta and Melilla, official data are even more sharp: not a single procedure was carried out in public health. And in communities such as Aragon, Asturias, Castilla-La Mancha, Murcia, Andalusia or the Basque Country, the proportion did not exceed 5%. This territorial disparity reveals the almost absolute dependence of the private network in much of the country.
Critical voices. During the act on the occasion of the 40 years of legalization, activists such as Silvia Aldavert, from the I want to abort, They denounced that many autonomies They interpret the legal deadlines in a restrictive way: “When the law speaks of 14 weeks, it must be 14 + 6 days. In many communities it is interpreted as 14 exact, not one more day.”
Minister Ana Redondo He stressed That 80% of IVE are carried out in private clinics, which “violates the principle of territorial equality” and converts abortion into “a class issue.” The cost of moving hundreds of kilometers, asking for free days at work or paying a private clinic makes the difference between being able to exercise the right in decent conditions or not.
The testimonies confirm it. The case of Marta Vigara, a woman who was denied a therapeutic interruption in Madrid, uncovered that in some public hospitals There were hardly any abortions and that the usual solution was to refer to the private one. There is also the testimony collected by Newtral De Laura Gil, who had to travel to Brussels to interrupt her 31 weeks pregnancy before the refusal of Spanish clinical committees, an example of how economic capacity acts as a filter.
The investigation points to two key factors: systematic outsourcing to private clinics and the objection of consciousness applied collectively, despite the fact that the law establishes that it must be individual and in writing.
Conscientious objection as wall. The right of professionals to object is still one of the main pitfalls. “You cannot sacrifice a fundamental right of women at the expense of conscientious objection,” Minister Ana Redondo warnedremembering that the Article 139.1 of the Constitution guarantees equal rights throughout the territory.
The problem is that in communities like Melilla, where all doctors They are declared objectorsthe law becomes wet paper. The law provides for registration to better organize resources, but as long as it is not applied uniformly, aborting in the public will continue to be an exception. WHO, meanwhile, Remember that abortion It must be treated as an essential health service, not as a conditioned provision.
Beyond our borders. International comparison shows that laws, by themselves, do not guarantee real access. The most revealing example is that of the United States: for decades, after the sentence Roe v. Wade of 1973abortion was legal, but many states introduced progressive restrictions – shorter plants, economic demands, bureaucratic requirements – that in practice hindered access. That “legal armor” ended up emptying until, in 2022, the Supreme Court annulled the precedent. The American experience illustrates a risk that also plans on Spain: that an advanced law is blurred in the day to day if its homogeneous application is not ensured throughout the territory.
A right still in dispute. Abortion in Spain has traveled a four decades. During this time, more than 2.7 million women They have resorted to the voluntary interruption of pregnancy. However, obstacles persist: territorial inequality, objection of consciousness applied collectively, harassment at the gates of clinics and excessive dependence on private health.
The government wanted to mark this anniversary with the creation of a website that seeks to offer clarity in the midst of an unequal system. The substantive issue, however, remains open: if Spain will be able to guarantee real and homogeneous access, or if this right will continue exposed to political, economic and geographical fluctuations.
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