Spain is one of the twelve countries that have signed a joint declaration in favor of expanding access to abortion, released on the occasion of the so-called «International Safe Abortion Day» on September 28. The text has been published by the Government of the Netherlands and is signed by ambassadors, envoys, and governments of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
What the declaration calls for
The signatories reaffirm the rights of women and girls «in all their diversity» to make decisions about their bodies and lives, and explicitly call for «the adoption of laws and policies that support access to safe abortion care,» in line with the guidelines of the World Health Organization.
The declaration also supports the decriminalization of abortion and calls for the work of movements and activists promoting it to be «protected and supported.» It also includes access to contraceptives, information, and sexual education, and maintains, citing the WHO, that restricting abortion «makes it unsafe.»
In line with the Government
The Spanish signature coincides with the Executive’s offensive on this matter. This same week, InfoVaticana reported that the Government is accelerating the abortion decree, which limits information on aid to pregnant women to cases where it is requested and removes objectors from the committees.
The dissemination of the declaration has been denounced by European pro-life organizations, such as the Polish portal PCh24, which emphasizes that its signatories are calling for the adoption of rules to facilitate abortion.