Abortion activists are reacting to Spain’s pro-life bill in some rather interesting ways. Women in Spain are currently permitted to abort their unborn children up to 14 weeks, and under Socialists were permitted to have abortions up until 22 weeks if there was a serious risk to the health or life of the mother or her unborn child. Even then, abortion was relatively unregulated.
The new bill would limit abortion to cases of rape and “lasting harm” to the mother’s health. The bill has been regarded as “controversial, and highly restrictive…” as well as one that will have “extreme consequences for women,” by Ann Furedi for CNN. She even titles her piece “Spain ‘heading for self-made mess’ with abortion ban.”
Demonstrating how extremist abortion advocates are in their views, Furedi had this to say:
Politicians in the 21st century must accept that abortion is a necessary back-up to contraception, and that it should be a woman’s private and personal decision that she is able to make according to what she thinks is best for her and her family. It is a travesty that abortion is included in the criminal statute in so many countries — including Britain.
Fortunately the truth of the matter is that there will always be politicians, whether in the United States, Spain, Britain, or any other nation, who will protect the life of the unborn. At least in the United States, many support abortion in only certain circumstances, and as far as relaxed reasons go, a “back-up to contraception,” would likely be at the top of the list.
The bill has made recent headline again, as it may pass in May. In response, campaigners are setting up a fake sort of traveling agency to alert women what they feel is at stake if the bill passes.
A group called CELEM has created the branch of Abortion Travel, with the purpose in mind that it is “the agency that should never exist.”
Abortion activists, Ann Furedi, who is the CEO of the British pro-abortion group British Pregnancy Advisory Service, and the CELEM group as they are ultimately doing with their fake travel agency, are making this bill about how women would be forced to travel abroad to obtain abortions.
Regardless of that aspect of the debate though, what this bill also raises points about is that a European nation is taking a stand for life, to decide that unborn children are deserving of legal protection, or of at least more protection than they currently have.
Cathy Newman, in her pro-abortion piece for The Telegraph, quotes the justice minister, along with providing her own commentary, with emphasis added:
Spain’s justice minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon told his party’s convention last month: “We are not talking about moral issues or electoral advantages, but instead the defence of fundamental rights.” Seemingly oblivious to the rights of women, he added for good measure: “You have my word that no screams or insults could provoke me to abandon my commitment to comply with [the People’s party] platform to regulate the rights of women and the unborn.”
To make such a naïve statement, that one who is speaking of “the defence of fundamental rights,” namely the right to life, is “oblivious rights of women,” completely discounts those women who are pro-life. And what does it say to the rights of unborn women?
The bill does contain notable exceptions, such as rape. And some pro-lifers such as Anthony Ozimic of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, thus have concerns about the bill. The bill is certainly not perfect, but it is notable in that, as CNS reporting mentions:
This new approach, [Grégor Puppinck, director of the European Centre for Law and Justice] said, “is not hostile to abortion but does not believe anymore that abortion is a great freedom.”
It is noteworthy that we are making progress for life in steps.
Despite what abortion advocates would like to believe, not all people or politicians feel that they “must accept abortion…” merely because it is the 21st century. In fact, people across the world, especially the youth, as CNS also reports, are becoming more pro-life. And eventually, an Abortion Travel agency will not only “the agency that should never exist,” but it won’t need to.
