Spain anti-abortion rally flags vote challenge to govt

MADRID: Thousands of Spaniards marched in Madrid on Saturday warning the government that its decision to abandon plans to restrict women’s access to abortion will cost it conservative votes in this year’s general election.
Waving white flags, pro-life demonstrators of all ages, bussed in from across Spain, marched in the sunshine and massed near the entrance to the Retiro park, yelling “Every life matters!”
Conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy promised before he was elected in 2011 to tighten Spain’s abortion law, but dropped the plan last September due to disagreement within his Popular Party (PP).
The reform would have ended a woman’s right to freely opt for an abortion up to 14 weeks of pregnancy, which is standard in much of Europe.
Its abandonment angered Catholic and other pro-life groups such as those that organised Saturday’s rally.
“I will always do everything I can to support life, and even if some day I make a mistake, I will not have an abortion,” said one demonstrator, Lourdes Keller, a 19-year-old medical student.
Rajoy’s government last month proposed a new reform that would oblige girls aged 16 and 17 to get their parents’ consent to have an abortion.