Abortion law 'could be approved by Friday'
Monday, June 23, 2014 @ 3:10 PM
A CONTROVERSIAL overhaul of the existing law on abortion could be approved in Parliament as early as this coming Friday, meaning only an official paper-pushing will stand in the way of its becoming effective in Spain.
Every political party except for Uniò and UPN - which support the legislation changes - has announced plans to present amendments to the text, some of which are practically a total rewrite of the rules.
But the PP government has an overwhelming majority, meaning it does not need the votes of any other party to push the law through and has the power to reject calls for alterations to the text out of hand.
Once the Parliamentary approval process has gone through, the abortion law is expected to come into effect in November or December.
This will be around a year before the next general elections.
Abortion became legal in Spain in 1985, but only where the woman's life or physical or mental health would be seriously at risk by continuing with the pregnancy, or in the event of the foetus suffering deformities that could leave the child handicapped.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com