{"id":265929,"date":"2022-04-09T15:09:11","date_gmt":"2022-04-09T20:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=265929"},"modified":"2022-04-07T21:24:16","modified_gmt":"2022-04-08T02:24:16","slug":"spain-criminalizes-pro-life-outreach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/spain-criminalizes-pro-life-outreach\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain criminalizes pro-life outreach at abortion facilities"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Spain\u2019s Senate has passed <\/span>a law<\/span><\/a> criminalizing<\/span>\u00a0pro-life activism and free speech. According to the law, sidewalk counselors attempting to persuade women not to have abortions, as well as people simply praying outside an abortion facility, can face imprisonment for up to a year. According to The Guardian, the law “will come into effect after being published in the official state bulletin in coming days.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The law was proposed by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez\u2019s Socialist Party and passed by the Party of Deputies in <\/span>February<\/span><\/a>. It frames caring pro-life counselors and peaceful protestors as coercive criminals who attempt \u201cto impede [women] from exercising [their] right to voluntarily interrupt pregnancy\u201d through \u201cbothersome, offensive, or intimidating acts.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Besides banning pro-life counseling outside of abortion facilities, the law also forbids workers inside abortion facilities to counsel women against abortion, claiming that such help constitutes \u201charassment\u201d and \u201cintimidation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Catholic country legalized abortion in 1985 when it made exceptions to pro-life legislation in the cases of rape, child malformity, and maternal illness. In 2010, Spain legalized the abortion of babies up to 15 weeks gestational age.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the Spanish doctors\u2019 association, most Spanish obstetricians and gynecologists still refuse to commit abortions. This new law could change that by placing more pressure on doctors.<\/span><\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0As Spain legalizes assisted suicide, Catholic bishops call for protecting life<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Members of the Spanish People\u2019s Party have <\/span>protested<\/span><\/a> the law on the grounds that it prohibits free speech.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the Spanish <\/span>ABC<\/a>, Mar\u00eda Teresa Angulo Romero of the People\u2019s Party said the law penalizes \u201cfundamental rights such as freedom of speech or assembly because what underlies is a sectarian limitation of rights because of the ideas of those who exercise them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t want to penalize supposed coercion,\u201d she said, \u201cif so, your proposal would be unnecessary because the Penal Code already covers coercion. You want to prohibit the right of assembly or free speech where and by whom you don\u2019t like.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite their Senate\u2019s decision, Spanish activists in Right to Life are determined to continue counseling desperate women and protesting the homicide of innocent children.<\/span><\/p>\n

Right to Life spokeswoman, Immaculada Fernandez, stated: \u201cPraying is not a crime and we will continue to pray and offer our help to all those women who need it so that they can see that abortion is not the only solution. More than 6,000 children were born last year thanks to the help of pro-life groups and none of the mothers regretted giving birth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Pro-life activists in Spain are called to an even greater heroism in defying their country\u2019s unjust law. In our own country, where free speech is theoretically protected, activists are now <\/span>facing criminal charges <\/span><\/a>for protecting life.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spain\u2019s Senate has passed a law criminalizing\u00a0pro-life activism and free speech. According to the law, sidewalk counselors attempting to persuade women not to have abortions, as well as people simply praying outside an abortion facility, can face imprisonment for up to a year. According to The Guardian, the law “will come into effect after being […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":867,"featured_media":217904,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[2793,3473],"tags":[5990,104,16782,521,16781,14468,1147],"yoast_head":"\nSpain criminalizes pro-life outreach at abortion facilities<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"According to the law, anyone attempting to persuade women not to have abortions or praying outside an abortion facility can face imprisonment for a year.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/spain-criminalizes-pro-life-outreach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" 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