Advertisement

'Spain's abortion law is pure ideology': Le Monde

Alex Dunham
Alex Dunham - [email protected]
'Spain's abortion law is pure ideology': Le Monde
A demonstration was organized in front of the Spanish embassy in Paris on December 27th to protest Spain's plan to ban women from freely opting for abortion. Photo: Pierre Andrieu/AFP

France's prestigious Le Monde newspaper dedicated their Monday editorial to Spain's new abortion law, calling it both 'regressive' and a politically motivated attack on 'the left's moral high ground'.

Advertisement

Le Monde ran the piece under the title "Abortion: Spain’s step backwards".

The left-leaning daily begins by describing how its European neighbour was once at the forefront of "progressive" laws that protected women’s rights, from abortion to gender violence.

But the change of government has led to a "180 degree turn" in this dynamic, Le Monde claims.

"The new law, proposed by Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz Gallardón, is more restrictive than the one from 1985" as the former "allowed abortion if the foetus was malformed", Le Monde wrote.

The French broadsheet quotes Gallardón as saying "We can’t allow the foetus' life to be entirely dependent on the mother’s wishes".

Their view, however, is that the Justice Minister’s stance is ideologically driven, using his own words to justify the claims.

They cite Gallardón in an interview he gave Spain’s ABC, in which he said his government’s revised abortion law would "finish with the myth of the left’s moral superiority".

Le Monde's editorial piece comes just days after Spain's government approved a draft abortion law which will allow abortion only in cases of rape or a threat to the mother's health, a move which has already causes social unrest across the country.

Don't miss stories about Spain, join us on Facebook and Twitter.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also