Spain's Supreme Court to Examine Abortion Law

(June 30) -- Just days before Spain's new liberal abortion law was to go into effect, the country's highest court has agreed to hear a challenge to its constitutionality from the opposition conservative Popular Party.

The law , a key piece in the ruling Socialists' efforts to modernize Spain's social laws, removes all restrictions on abortions up to the 14th week of pregnancy.

Sandra Moneo, a Popular Party member of parliament, says the law "violates the balance between the rights of the mother and the rights of the unborn," according to Canadian Press.

The new law's most controversial provision is that a minor as young as 16 would be able to seek an abortion without parental consent. The conservatives argue that the law violates parents' rights to raise their daughters as they see fit.

According to the Spanish daily El Pais, the Socialist government has sought to blunt the legal challenge by introducing a last-minute change in the law, which is supposed to apply from July 5 onward.

The law's latest version says that minors have to be accompanied by a parent or guardian to the abortion clinic, but it also allows doctor to perform the procedure if a psychologist or social worker finds that a minor has a well-founded fear of informing her parents.

The court gives the government and the opposition three days to present their cases for whether the law should take effect on schedule.

The Socialist government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, which was first elected in 2004, has pushed a progressive program of social legislation, to the ire of the long-dominant Catholic Church and its conservative allies. The government has sanctioned gay marriage, liberalized divorce laws, and cut funding for religious education in public schools.