WASHINGTON (CNS) Spain’s Catholic bishops have criticised legislation that would liberalise the country’s abortion laws, calling the bill "a very serious danger for the common good". In a document posted on the bishops’ conference Web site in mid-June, the bishops’ Permanent Commission said it felt a religious duty to inform the public about its concerns over the legislation.
The bill, expected to be considered by the parliament in July, would allow girls as young as 16 to terminate a pregnancy without parental consent. It also would allow abortions to be performed without restrictions up to the 14th week of pregnancy.
In the document, "Declaration on the Draft Bill of the ‘Abortion Law’: Endangering the Life of the Unborn," the bishops quote Pope John Paul II’s 1995 encyclical, "Evangelium Vitae" ("The Gospel of Life"), and the Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World ("Gaudium et Spes"), which called abortion and infanticide "unspeakable crimes."
"The bishops, who on numerous occasions have announced the gospel of life and denounced the culture of death, wish to emphasize some aspects of the draft bill in question that, upon becoming law, would be a serious regression in the protection of an unborn life, a major abandonment of the pregnant mothers and, finally, a very serious danger for the common good," the document said.
Under the current law, enacted in 1985, abortions are available to women 18 or older only in cases of rape or fetal malformation or if the pregnancy threatens the woman’s mental or physical well-being.
The proposed legislation would relax these restrictions, allowing abortions for any reason during the first trimester of pregnancy. Abortions would be available up to the 22nd week of pregnancy if a doctor detects fetal malformation or a threat to the mother’s health. After 22 weeks, abortions would only be allowed if fetal malformation would result in an unsustainable life.
Although the legislation lists women’s health as a primary concern, the bishops said it fails to mention the moral and psychological consequences abortion can have on women, especially if they make the decision when young, without the guidance of their parents.
"This bill has no real interest in the well-being of the women tempted to abort, particularly young women," they said. "It is merely trying to clear the way toward the moral abyss."
The bill also includes a provision mandating that sex education — including safe sex and sexual orientation — be included in all school curriculums. While the bishops agreed that sexual development and procreation are important issues to be discussed, they said the state should not mandate that they be taught in all schools.
Such a provision "would violate the rights of parents and/or of the school, freely chosen by the parents according to their own beliefs," they said.
Since coming to power in 2004, Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s government has been at odds with Catholic leaders over the legalization of gay marriage, increased rights for transsexuals and allowing stem-cell research.
Spain’s conservative opposition Popular Party is also protesting the proposed abortion legislation.
