This is exactly what the Sanchez administration's law delivers. Criminal penalties are also included for individuals who depend on surrogacy as a means of reproduction.
The Spanish government wants to make it possible for 16- and 17-year-old girls to get abortions without their parents' approval, something that has previously only been possible for adults. The draught of the new legislation, which was obtained by Cadena SER, a Spanish radio station, will be submitted to the Council of Ministers on Tuesday, according to the station.
A number of provisions in the bill are extremely broad, and in addition to allowing girls over the age of 16 to resort to abortion without obtaining parental permission, it recognises surrogacy as a form of violence against women, prohibits advertising from brokerage agencies, and empowers Spanish courts to prosecute couples who travel outside the country to complete the trial. According to the statement, "our nation must send a strong message in the sense of identifying this practise as a severe form of reproductive violence and implementing actions in the fields of prevention and punishment, both inside and beyond our borders."
Last month, the Spanish Constitutional Court decided against the contracts made between the surrogate mother and the surrogate parents, according to the ABC news channel in Spain. It was determined by the High Court that these contracts are void because they violate the fundamental rights of the surrogate woman and the surrogate child. The court concluded that recognition of the parentage relationship between the non-biological mother and the surrogate child must be achieved through adoption.
Aside from the novelty of surrogacy, the draught obtained by Cadena Sur confirms what was anticipated last February by Irene Montero, Minister of Equality, who, while speaking before the Commission for Equality of the Congress of Deputies, stated that the new law aimed to ensure that "any woman who decides to have an abortion must be able to do so without any hindrance or prejudice." According to El Pais, the draught obtained by Cadena Sur confirms what was anticipated last February by
In addition, the proposal eliminates the requirement for women who wish to terminate their pregnancy to wait three days after requesting the intervention, and it regulates conscientious objection. If the legislation is passed, all public hospitals that provide gynaecology and obstetrics services will be required to ensure the presence of professionals capable of performing abortions, as well as the presence of doctors who are not conscientious objectors, in order to ensure medical assistance to women in need.
Besides that, women will have the right to choose the technique by which they will terminate their pregnancy, and the medical centre will be required to give them with the necessary information and send them to the hospital as an emergency treatment without any further hurdles. Other provisions of the new legislation, such as the "right to menstrual health," will be included as well. Menstrual discomfort leave will be controlled, with the ability to be prolonged up to three days, and free hygiene supplies will be offered to detainees and women in dire circumstances, among other things. The value added tax (VAT) on these products would be repealed as well.