Private Spanish Abortion Clinics Begin Five-Day Strike, Citing Persecution

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 11 Jan 2008 - 6:00 PST

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About 40 private abortion clinics in Spain on Tuesday began a five-day strike to protest what they say is persecution by abortion-rights opponents and government inspectors, the New York Times reports.

According to Francisca Garcia Gallego -- regional director of the Association of Accredited Abortion Clinics, which organized the strike -- the Spanish government has not protected abortion clinics or patients after an increase in protests by abortion opponents and raids by local authorities, which led to more than 12 arrests last month. Garcia added that clinics have been vandalized and that clinic workers have been insulted and in at least one or two cases, hit by protesters in recent weeks (Burnett, New York Times, 1/9).

Local police in Barcelona last month arrested 13 people, mostly ob-gyns and anesthetists, in the raids, which targeted clinics accused of performing illegal abortions, Reuters reports (Harding, Reuters, 1/8). Spain allows abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy in cases of rape, in the first 22 weeks if the fetus is malformed and at any time during pregnancy if a doctor certifies that the pregnant woman's mental or physical health is at risk. In addition, some clinics were accused of performing abortions using falsified medical certificates, the AP/San Diego Union-Tribune reports (Giles, AP/San Diego-Union Tribune, 1/8).

Among those arrested in the raids was Peruvian physician Carlos Morin, who appeared in a television program in which he offered an abortion to an undercover Danish journalist eight months' pregnant for 4,000 euros, or about $5,880 (Reuters, 1/8). According to the Times, Morin's arrest has "set off a flurry" of media reports about women who travel to Spain to receive abortions (New York Times, 1/9).

The association said regional and national authorities have rejected its attempts to address its concerns following the arrests. The association also did not rule out future strikes if the issue is not addressed. According to the AP/Union-Tribune, the strike is estimated to affect about 2,000 women in the country. Women who were scheduled to receive abortions during the strike received the procedure early or were given a new appointment after the strike (AP/San Diego-Union Tribune, 1/8). During the strike, clinics will accept only emergency cases, according to Garcia.

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Garcia said there has been a "cloud of suspicion hanging over" abortion clinics nationwide since the Barcelona raids. "We feel physically threatened, but nobody in the government has come out in our defense," Garcia said (New York Times, 1/9). She also said that the "number and manner of inspections is abusive," and that they violate the privacy of patients and undermine the professionalism of clinic staff (Reuters, 1/8).

According to the Times, the strike comes at an "awkward moment" for Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who is up for re-election in March and is "trying to avoid inflammatory issues" ahead of the election. Zapatero after Morin's arrest said that his government would overhaul the country's abortion law, but he later said that the law should be reassessed (New York Times, 1/9). He also said abortion would not be a platform for the general election. The Health Ministry on Tuesday declined to comment on the strike, the AP/Union-Tribune reports. Slightly more than 100,000 abortions were preformed in the country in 2007 (AP/San Diego Union-Tribune, 1/8).

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