Abortion in Francoist Spain and the transition period

Abortion was only briefly legal in Spain in this period in Catalonia in the final days of the Spanish Civil War.

While a compromise related to divorce was reached, the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) and the People's Coalition both opposed it, and were able to insert language into the constitution that undermined future potential abortion rights.

Abortion reform was finally passed in 1983, but did not become legal until 1985 as a result of constitutional objections by the Partido Popular (PP), or People's Party.

Because Catholicism was opposed to negative eugenics, the only way to fight the degradation was through repression of abortion, euthanasia and contraception.

[4] Anarchist ideas about abortion in the early Francoist period were informed by opinions exemplified by Director of General Health and Social Assistance of the Generalitat of Catalonia Félix Martí Ibáñez during the Civil War, with a policy called "Eugenics Reform" that included support of abortion by removing it as a clandestine practice.

Their policies also included support of working-class women, by attempting to give them economic relief so that elective abortions were not needed.

During the Civil War, the only women's anti-fascist group to support the legalization of abortion was the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM).

[5][6] Doctors in Francoist Spain had two roles: to be moral protectors of Spanish reproduction and to provide science-based medical services.

Pharmacists, or anyone in their employ, who gave any substance or medicine that were considered abortive could face the loss of their professional qualifications for 5 to 10 years, and fines of between 1,000 and 25,000 pesetas.

Any doctor, midwife, or other medical practitioner who observed an abortion was required by law to report it to the authorities.

[1] Those within the Catholic Church wrote in support of the law, including Father Jaime Pujiula, Professor of the Colegio Máximo de San Ignacio de Sarriá and a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Madrid and the Barcelona Academy of Medicine.

[1] He stated: "The fruit that is lost criminally would perhaps be the most robust man, the healthiest, the most intelligent to contribute to society or to renew it or define new directions...

Judicial documents indicate many single women and widows had abortions to avoid the disgrace of having a child outside of marriage.

The abortions were performed using things like knitting needles, parsley stems, vaginal irritants, physical trauma, probes, mustard baths, or ingesting substances.

In Luna, 10 women were found guilty of having abortions, in an extreme case of what appeared to be a coordinated effort to hide the existence of an under-age prostitution ring.

Further attempts to dislodge midwives from the birthing process included accusing them of witchcraft and quackery, trying to make them appear unscientific.

Among the findings were that the number of lesbians was increasing as a result of a number of factors, including "physical or congenital defects", the "affective traumas and unsatisfied desires", families being unable to prevent women's conversation, "Contagion and mimicry", and "... the lack of relationship with men as a consequence of an excessively rigid education, the existence of institutions that by their very nature eliminate these relationships: prisons, hospitals, psychiatric, religious communities, etc.

To tackle the problem of the growing lesbian population, the government commission proposed solutions like "early diagnoses and medical treatments and psychotherapeutics that [corrected] possible somatic defects", creating a sex education program and the promotion of the idea that both genders can peacefully co-exist.

In their reports, single motherhood was identified as a problem, though they noted it was in decline, which they attributed, in part, to the use of the pill and other contraceptives, and to women having abortions in other countries where the practice was legal.

[19] In the 1970s and 1980s, feminists were the only major group calling on the government to address the need for women to have access to abortion services.

[20][21][6] As a European Christian Democratic party, UCD opposed the legalization of divorce and abortion, believing in what they saw as "the preservation of the family".

[22] Ahead of the 1977 elections, UCD did not put forth a coherent party policy on major social issues of the day in order to try to broaden their appeal among Spanish voters, who had largely been apolitical as a result of regime constraints on political activity.

[22] The Cortes of 1977 had to try to find a way to cope with the demands of the newly liberated left, who wanted to see reforms such as the legalization of abortion and divorce, while the Catholic Church opposed both.

[23] A compromise was reached on divorce that would see the issue addressed in later legislation through the text of Article 32.2 which said, "the law will regulate the forms of matrimony... [and] the causes of separation and dissolution."

[23] One of the reasons UCD went into decline after the 1977 elections was the party was forced to take positions on major issues of the day, including divorce, abortion and the use of public money for private schools.

[24] An amnesty petition for the Bilbao 11 was signed by over 1,300 women, including politicians, singers, artists and journalists who all affirmed that they had also had abortions.

[25] As a consequence of the Bilbao cases, the Government stopped attempts to prosecute women who had illegal abortions.

This was likely a result of an increased number of illegal abortions taking place in Spain in newly opened women's health clinics.

[28][30] Anti-abortion activists made it difficult for non-governmental family planning clinics to offer and perform legal abortions, as they harassed medical staff.

[6] Women from Gibraltar and Andorra would eventually come to Spain for abortions, as the procedure remained illegal and punishable with prison terms well into the 2000s.