VALENCIA, March 26, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Pro-life educators often make the argument that if individuals were fully aware of the dignity and value of human life in the womb, then even with legalized abortion, the demand for and availability of them would be reduced. This point seems to be proved by a Spanish pro-life organization that has found the great majority, 96%, of Spanish doctors, refuses to commit abortion.
The International Planned Parenthood Website complains that “the Roman Catholic Church and `pro-life’ opposition in Spain is a constant factor in non-government organization advocacy for sexual and reproductive health” and that abortions are relegated to private facilities. However, the number of abortions committed in these facilities is on the rise. Spanish gynecologists, says Justo Aznar, head of the Department of Biopathology at La Fe Hospital in Valencia, recognize the humanity of the unborn “embryo” from the earliest stages. In a defense of the dignity both of the unborn child and the profession of gynecology, Aznar said that Spanish gynecologists clearly believe that their job is oriented towards giving life and in no way towards the destruction of unborn embryos.”
Abortion was legalized in Spain in 1985 and opposition to it from doctors quickly followed in this overwhelmingly Catholic country. Up to the end of 2003 no abortion had been committed in Valencia. The practice has been growing however in private facilities which report that a total of 77,125 abortions were committed in 2002.
The Spanish pro-abortion movement has employed the usual methods of creating euphemisms to make the act palatable, calling it voluntary interruptions of pregnancy (IVE). Spain currently suffers from one of the lowest birth rates in Europe which is plagued with poor fertility and is expecting a demographic and economic implosion. International Planned Parenthood Federation’s website gives the Spanish fertility rate at 1.2 births per woman. 2.1 births are required merely for population stability.