The Spanish government has appointed an expert panel to explore possible changes to Spanish abortion law. Currently, abortion is legal in Spain, but only in cases of rape, severe fetal abnormalities, or when the mother’s mental or physical health is at risk, according to Reuters.
The appointed panel consists of doctors, lawyers, academics, and government representatives. In part, their goal is to bring Spanish law more in line with other European countries and to recommend to the Spanish government how to best amend the current abortion law, which dates to 1985, according to the Associated Press.
Spanish Equality Minister Bibiana Aido plans to present a related bill to Congress early next year that “will protect the fundamental rights of women who freely decide to interrupt their pregnancies and those of the medical staff who assist them,” according to the Telegraph. There are approximately 100,000 legal abortions annually in Spain, but activists seek more equal application of current law across Spain and expansion of the law to allow abortion in the first trimester, according to Planetwire.
