The Spanish government's first step toward "shielding" abortion in the Constitution

MadridThe Council of Ministers took the first step this Tuesday to ""shield" abortion in the ConstitutionAs announced by Spanish President Pedro Sánchez in an interview on Cadena SER, the government will request a consultative report from the Council of State to amend Article 43 of the Constitution and incorporate this women's right. "Women's right to voluntary termination of pregnancy is guaranteed. The exercise of this right, in any case, will be guaranteed by the public authorities, which will ensure its provision under conditions of effective equality, as well as the protection of women's fundamental rights," the new Article 43.4 of the Constitution states. "We are taking a step towards the victory of women and the recognition of their rights in the face of the reactionary wave that seeks to curtail them," emphasized the Minister of Equality, Ana Redondo.

This is not a reform that requires the dissolution of the Spanish Parliament or a referendum of the citizens, as is the case with hypothetical reforms to the monarchy or rights that the Constitution itself recognizes as fundamental. In any case, the reform requires broad parliamentary consensus. To begin with, a three-fifths majority in both Congress and the Senate would be required. If this were not achieved, a committee of both chambers would be formed to propose a new text, and then two-thirds of Congress and an absolute majority in the Senate would be sufficient. In any case, the PP's concurrence is necessary.

In recent hours, a legal debate has opened up about whether this modification protects abortion more—it will not be framed within the section that regulates fundamental rights and public freedoms—or whether it is already sufficiently protected thanks to the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court. "They want women to pay for the PSOE's electoral campaign with our rights," lamented Podemos MEP Irene Montero, in a video published on X. The former Minister of Equality has warned of a possible "setback," since there are already communities where Abortion in public health is not guaranteed.

Sánchez has decided to bet strongly on the issue of abortion, after the controversy in the Madrid City Council a few weeks ago, when the PP voted with Vox on a proposal that women have to request a report on a ""false post-abortion syndrome". In general, this is a right that has been outdated for the vast majority of citizens, and now the issue has been reopened due to the influence of the far right, something that the Spanish government is taking advantage of to delve into the contradictions of the PP. In this context, she has emphasized the legally required registry of conscientious objectors, which is not complied with in all autonomous communities.

One is the Community of Madrid, where only 1% of abortions are performed in the public health system. Isabel Díaz Ayuso made some very controversial statements last week when, understanding that the registry of conscientious objectors is a way of "pointing out" doctors, she defended that in her community neither doctors nor women who opt for one thing or the other should be singled out. "If they don't have enough, go somewhere else to have an abortion"," said the Madrid president on the left-wing bench. Furthermore, at Tuesday's Council of Ministers, a requirement was approved for the Community of Madrid, the Balearic Islands, and Aragon to establish a registry of conscientious objector doctors, setting off a clash that could end up in the Constitutional Court.

Ayuso doesn't back down and attacks Sánchez.

Far from backtracking, Ayuso reaffirmed her position this Tuesday. "I will not create blacklists," the Madrid president reiterated, arguing that "the anonymity of doctors must be protected." "We are a government that abides by the law, and what I will not do is point the finger at anyone," she insisted in a press conference in which she also denied hindering the right to abortion in Madrid. In fact, Ayuso accused Sánchez of lecturing on "macho"I am a free woman. I have suffered the loss of two babies [...] Who does the president of the government think he is to speak on behalf of all women?" said the leader of the Madrid PP. "Of macho That is to say, women should go elsewhere for an abortion," replied the Minister of Health, Mónica García, who made it clear that "women are not going anywhere." "We will exercise our rights here and now," she insisted.

A list should be made of the doctors who do perform abortions. "Let it be clear," Sánchez asked, after the conservative president said in a tweet last week that his party defends the voluntary interruption of pregnancy "with the best medical care" by the president "of a product." breach of legislation by some regional governments, and this "requires the protection of this right" in the Constitution.