Spain to Ban Abortion

Spain legalized abortion in 1985, but late last year the country passed anti-abortion legislation to ban the procedure in most cases. Now the bill is awaiting a final passage through Spanish parliament, which is largely controlled by the conservative Populist Party. The impending ban on abortion, which makes allowances only for a mother’s health and rape, is almost inevitable.

But how did the county, famous for their afternoon naps, get here? Polls even show that 80 percent of locals don’t even want an abortion ban, reports NPR.

Tightening Spain’s abortion rules was one of the Popular Party’s campaign promises during the 2011 general elections, which the party won by a wide margin. In recent months, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has moved toward the right, trying to keep members of his conservative party from defecting to new far-right political party, Vox, which has been compared to the Tea Party in the U.S.

Oh God, the Tea Party is an international gang now? Nevertheless, pro-choice Spaniards aren’t going quietly into the night.

At one of the more colorful recent protests, a dozen topless women chanted, “Abortion is sacred!” as they rushed toward a Catholic cardinal, pelting him with lace panties. Priests closed in on the cardinal, and elderly churchgoers used their handbags to swat at the topless protesters.

Ultimately, pro-choice activists say that women who want the procedure will just return to the old days where they’d travel to neighboring countries like France or England, where abortion remains legal. But they hope it doesn’t come to that.