This Saturday, thousands of women took to the streets of Barcelona, some with masking tape over their mouths, others holding signs saying ‘E_s el meu cos i jo decideixo_’ - 'It’s my body and I decide'. They were joined by thousands more women across the country, all protesting against the government’s new anti-abortion law. Because later this year, it will become illegal for women in Spain to terminate their pregnancies in almost all circumstances, meaning the country will have one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe.
The fact that it was International Women’s Day only added fresh impetus to a protest movement that is months old, but gaining new momentum every day. Because, against the wishes of 80 per cent of the population, the ultra-Conservative Spanish government remains determined to make abortion illegal in almost all cases, apart from rape and the most extreme of medical circumstances.
The bill (which the government passed, despite opposition hopes that a secret ballot would split the ruling Popular Party) has split a country already reeling from the effects of the recession and subsequent austerity programme. (Indeed, many suspect that the law was designed to distract from the government’s fiscal disasters.)
Of course there’s a political motive – the economy’s so poor, it’s a distracting issue
‘Of course there’s a political motive – the economy’s so poor, it’s a distracting issue,' Gillian Kane, a senior policy advisor at International Reproductive Rights Group Ipas told The Debrief. 'It’s polarising, you can get people involved in an emotional way, in a way you can’t do when you’re talking about fiscal matters.’
Even some members of the Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s own party have voiced their opposition to the bill, which many see as a return to Spain’s totalitarian past. Celia Villalobos, who is a member of Partido Popular, the Prime Minister’s own party and is the deputy speaker of Spain’s Parliament has said: ‘We’re not in 1985 any more. We’re in 2014, and things have changed.’
Things really have changed – Spain is one of Europe’s most sexually liberated and modern countries – and the young women affected by this new law are no different from you or I. And they’re pissed off – just like we would be. 'We’re fed up,’ Carolina Garcia, a member of Nosotras Decidimo, the campaign group behind the protests, told The Debrief. ‘After the economic crisis and the social backlash, this feels like the breaking point.’
Pure embarrassment is what I feel. Spain is going 30 years back to an awful situation.
‘The only word I can think of is “embarrassed,”’ adds 25-year-old Ane Guerra, a journalist from northern Spain. ‘Pure embarrassment is what I feel. Spain is going 30 years back to an awful situation and a total unprotected state for women who want to freely decide what happens to their bodies and their lives.’
And women are finding ever more inventive ways to register their protest. Hundreds of women have been entering regional government offices and asking that officials list their bodies in the commercial registries used for cars and aeroplanes. Their point being that their bodies now belonged to the government.
Ana Miranda Paz, former MEP for Galicia points out that the protests have captured the imagination of the entire country – not least because of Spain's organised and vocal feminist movement. ‘The feminist movement here is plural, participative and has done intensive work to defend women’s rights. Now that’s more important than ever, because of the threat posed by the PP [Partido Popular] in terms of our right to an abortion, the way women are presented in the media, etc. The [feminist] movement has become multi-dimensional – it’s present in political parties like mine [the BNG in Galicia] and has also become part of mainstream social movements.’
Guerra agrees that it’s not just politically active young women who are concerned about the direction the government is taking. ‘My friends and I discuss it all the time, and we’re all of the same opinion. But even older people feel that this law will have no benefit whatsoever. It really worries me, because I can see the government making so many wrong decisions and focusing on something so unnecessary – and so many women are going to end up in horrible situations because of this law.’
No matter what the legal context in a country, women still get abortions – the number doesn't change
In the 1980s when abortions laws were last as restrictive, planes were chartered to send Spanish women to the UK for the procedure. So are we going to see a return of this? ‘No matter what the legal context in a country, women still get abortions – the number doesn't change,’ says Kane. In fact, illegal abortions were fairly commonplace in Spain even under the dictatorship. A 1974 government report estimated that there were about 300,000 such abortions each year. Subsequently, the number rose to about 350,000 annually, which gave Spain one of the highest ratios of abortions to live births among advanced industrial countries.
So where will women go now? ‘Based on the projections I’ve seen so far, Portugal have quite liberal abortion laws now, so it’s possible Spanish women will end up going there. But generally speaking, they’ll get an abortion no matter what.’ That said, as Kane points out, not all women have the means to fly to a private clinic in Lisbon or London to get an abortion. ‘There will be social consequences – women with means can go abroad to a private clinic, but this law will disproportionately impact on young people, poor people, and women with less education.’
And abortion rights aren’t the only area where the government is attacking women’s rights. ‘The Rajoy government is really old-fashioned, and has done very little to protect equal rights and reduce inequality,’ explains Paz. ‘They’ve cut the budgets to improve sex education and sexual rights, social rights and the public health systems.’
If women in Spain feel like they’re under attack, it’s because, to all intents and purposes, they are – but they have no intention of taking it quietly. ‘Women in Spain have had enough,’ concludes Garcia. ‘We don’t think a judge, doctor, or a politician can decide for us.’
Follow Rebecca on Twitter @rebecca_hol
Pictures: Corbis
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.