Barcelona - A Spanish judge on Thursday jailed two
psychiatrists on charges of helping to carry out illegal abortions in
a scandal which has sparked calls to liberalize the country's
abortion legislation.
The psychiatrists are suspected of signing certificates falsely
claiming that their clients' pregnancies endangered their mental
health.
Five other employees of the same Barcelona chain of abortion
clinics were released on bail or without conditions.
The head of the clinics is in custody on charges of performing
illegal abortions on Spanish and foreign women in advanced stages of
pregnancy for large sums of money.
Two Madrid abortion clinics have also been closed over alleged
irregularities.
The Barcelona scandal has sparked calls to liberalize and
simultaneously clarify Spain's 1985 abortion legislation, under which
abortion is still theoretically a crime.
The law allows pregnancies to be terminated only in the cases of
rape, in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy; serious malformation of the
foetus, in the first 22 weeks; and danger to the mother's physical or
mental health, with no time limit given.
Nearly all of Spain's abortions are carried out at private clinics
under the provision of danger to the mother's health. The Barcelona
clinics allegedly took advantage of the provision, performing
abortions even in the final months of pregnancy.
Leftist critics say Spain needs a clearer abortion law, making
abortion a public health service and adjusting legislation to reflect
that in several other European Union countries, which allow women to
abort in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy without giving a reason for
the procedure.
'Pro-life' activists have taken advantage of the recent scandals
to attack the practice of abortion altogether, threatening and
harassing some employees of Madrid abortion clinics.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's socialist government
is in favour of modifying the law, but does not want to enter such a
controversial debate three months before the general elections in
March.
The opposition conservatives, who theoretically oppose abortion
but did not modify the law while in government, have also kept a low
profile, though Madrid abortion clinics have accused the local
conservative authorities of pressuring them with unnecessary
inspections.
Spain is an overwhelmingly Catholic country, though the church has
steadily been losing influence on social issues such as premarital
sex, contraception and abortion.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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