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Spanish Bishops speak out against proposed abortion law reforms


The Spanish Bishops' Conference has just published a document in response to government plans to make abortion more widely available in Spain. Following a meeting in Madrid, on June 16-17, they have issued a "Declaration on the Abortion Bill".

In the document the Spanish Bishops say that if the Bill becomes law, "it would imply a serious step backwards in the protection of unborn life, a greater abandonment of pregnant mothers, and therefore, very serious harm to the common good."

The worst part of the Bill, the Bishops say, "is its intent to make abortion a right to be protected by the State." In fact, during the 14 weeks of gestation established by the Bill, "the will of the mother becomes the absolute will over the life or death of the child she carries inside her."

They say: "the right to life is not something granted by the State, but a right that precedes the the State and which the State must protect."

".. health has become an excuse for eliminating the life of the unborn" they say, but "this is a great fallacy, as abortion is never something that heals, but that kills."

"An authentic healthcare policy should always take into account the health of the pregnant mother, but also the life and health of the child to be born." Moreover, "the imposition of abortion on the healthcare system as a kind of assistance for the biological, psychological, and social wellbeing of the pregnant mother, who supposedly has a right," always leaves room for the possibility that those who refuse to perform an abortion, "for reasons of conscience," are not respected.

They say: the Bill "supports the irrational affirmation that for some period of time the living being...is not a human."

The Bishops also denounce that fact that "this Bill does not show real interest for the good of women who are tempted to have an abortion, especially the youngest women. It only opens their way to a moral abyss and post-abortion syndrome."

"There is an injustice committed in imposing a determined sexual moral education that is not only pro-abortion and pro-gender ideology, but which is neither efficient as a true education nor as a means to preventing abortion."

The Bishops conclude their Declaration, recalling that every human being "is a sacred gift to their parents and to society as a whole," and therefore, "their life cannot remain arbitrary to anyone, much less the State, whose primary responsibility is precisely that of ensuring the rights of all to life, as a fundamental element of the common good."

"We are speaking out precisely in favour of those who have a right to be born and be loved by parents; we are speaking out on behalf of mothers, who have the right to support from society and from the State in order to avoid falling victim to abortion; we speak out in favor of freedom for parents and schools in offering their children an affective and sexual formation in accord with the moral convictions that truly prepare them to be parents and welcome the gift of life; we speak out in favour of a society that has the right to just laws that do not mistake injustices for rights," the text ends.

Source: Fides

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