Spain Approves Menstrual Leave, Teen Abortion, and Transgender Rights

What’s the story? 

• On Thursday, Spain approved legislation to expand abortion access for teenagers, transgender rights nationwide, and paid menstrual leave for workers.
• Spain is the first European country to entitle workers to paid menstrual leave.

What do the new laws allow?

• The new laws allow 16- and 17-year-olds to receive an abortion without parental consent. 
• State-run healthcare centers will offer free access to hormonal contraceptives and the morning-after pill, while menstrual products will be free in schools and prisons.
• The change around menstrual leave also encompasses period pains, allowing those with debilitating symptoms to take paid time off. 
• The new measures enshrine the right to have an abortion at a state hospital. More than 80% of termination procedures occur in private clinics in Spain, mainly due to the high number of doctors at public hospitals who refuse to perform them due to religious reasons. Doctors in the public system will be allowed to register their objections in writing. 
• In a separate package, lawmakers strengthened transgender rights, allowing anyone over 16 to change their legally registered gender without medical approval. Teenagers between the ages of 12-13 will need a judge’s authorization, and those between 14 and 16 will need to be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Previous to the new measure, transgender people needed a medical diagnosis for gender dysphoria. 
• This package also bans conversion therapy and allows state-provided support for LGBTQIA+ women seeking IVF treatment. 
• Additionally, the center-left coalition government is working on the “Only Yes Means Yes” Law, which makes verbal consent a key component in cases of sexual assault. Equality Minister Irene Montero, who is behind these various new measures, is under fire after the sexual assault law inadvertently led to prison sentence reductions for hundreds of sex offenders. 

What they’re saying

• Montero said in her speech to Congress on Thursday:

“This is a law that recognizes trans people’s right to freely decide their gender identity. It stops trans realities being treated as abnormalities. Trans people aren’t sick people; they’re people - full stop. They are who they are - full stop. Trans women are women - full stop. From today, the state recognizes that.”

• The Popular Party is greatly criticizing the ill-received “Only Yes Means Yes” law and warned the Spanish government of going too far, too fast. María Jesús Moro, a party spokesperson, said:

“We all know of the other countries that have backtracked on their ‘trans laws’ because they now know that they got ahead of themselves and that that caused a lot of suffering. Let’s not have the same thing here.”

What do you think? Should more countries do the same? 

-Jamie Epstein

(Photo credit: Flickr/Associació Ciutadania)