EUROPE/SPAIN - Working against the amplification of the law on abortion: “trying to blind public conscience by law would imply setbacks with incalculable destructive consequences in the loss of human lives.”

Madrid (Agenzia Fides) – “The government is saying that is hopes to proclaim ‘the best abortion law possible.’ This is a mockery. By now, even the least studied person is capable of realizing that voluntary abortion is an act of premeditated, cold-blooded murder. Aborting does not simple mean, as some hypocritically say, “terminate a pregnancy.” Voluntary abortion is the violent destruction of a human life in its mother’s womb. And this is what our governors hope to facilitate for the women of Spain. They hope to open the doors for them, so that they may more easily kill or have someone else kill their children,” says Archbishop Fernando Sebastian Aguilar, Archbishop Emeritus of Pamplona (Spain), in an article he wrote following the declaration of a law in order regarding abortion in Spain, which would make it more accessible. In fact, last week, the Minister of Equality announced that the new law would allow abortion during the 12, 14, or 16 initial weeks of pregnancy.
“Is it a sign of progress that we facilitate the killing of innocent human beings in the most vulnerable state imaginable, upon the decision of their mother and with the complicity of health and biology professionals?” Archbishop Sebastian asked. “Many of us Spaniards are not interested in this lie about progress...” He explains that “the fight against abortion should begin in the sexual, human, and moral education of adolescents. It must begin by an education of the youth in chastity.” There is also a need for “a decisive support for mothers, adolescents, and women who find themselves with difficulties from an ‘unwanted’ pregnancy.” This way is “the way towards progress; this is the way towards respect for the dignity of women and the value of life. The other is selfishness, inhumanity, corruption, and nihilism.”
The Archbishop concludes by exhorting the people “not to be accomplices in this silent, hypocritical, and cruel massacre that claims 100,000 lives every year. Our permissive attitude towards abortion is turning us into a degraded and corrupt nation. We cannot be accomplices in this path of moral destruction in Spain and among its people.”
In response to this call, many pro-life movements and associations are taking action and have made several declarations already. The Director of “Fundacion Vida,” Manuel Cruz, harshly criticized the committee of experts proposed by the Ministry for Equality in order to modify the Law on Abortion, as its members will all be pro-abortionists.
The Spain Family Forum has issued a statement in which it considers the fact that the matter is of utmost importance as it concerns human rights and the constitutional right to life, and the right of the women to not be abandoned in her difficulties and therefore, it is not simply a matter of experts, but a political decision to respect the right to life or not. The Forum’s President Benigno Blanco indicated that “the committee being formed is completely bias and is simply a charade so that the Government’s decision to amplify the abortion law can hide behind the team of so-called experts.”
Alicia Latorre, President of the Federation of Pro-Life Associations, “allowing a mother to chose to kill her child constitutes an assault on the right to life and on the woman herself. It is an act of tyranny towards women, a ridiculing of the law and of the basic moral principles that all of us carry inscribed in our hearts.” She also considers the fact that “trying to blind public conscience by law would imply setbacks with incalculable destructive consequences in the loss of human lives.”
The President of “HazteOir,” Ignacio Arsuaga, announced that he is preparing “a great social movement” against the amplification of the abortion law, and he criticized the fact that “the right to life of the most vulnerable is used to divert attention from the horrific economic crisis that Spain is experiencing.” The spokesperson for “Hay Alternativas,” Gador Joya, assured that “society is not demanding a new law on abortion, but instead a policy for helping mothers and families with children.” (RG) (Agenzia Fides 9/9/2008)