Brussels, 30/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - MEPs from the S&D Group turned out in large numbers on Wednesday 29 January for a demonstration against the Spanish draft law that seeks to ban abortion rights. The demonstration began at the Spanish Embassy in Brussels and finished at the European Parliament.
2,000 participants demonstrated in support of women's right to choose and their sexual and reproductive rights. European Social Democrats particularly gave their backing to the slogan, “My Body, My Choice”. This demonstration comes before the one planned in Madrid on 1 February against this draft law attacking the rights of Spanish women.
During the demonstration, the spokesperson for the group on gender equal opportunities issues, Zita Gurmai (S&D, Hungary), said that the measure proposed by the Conservatives in power in Spain was “unacceptable”.
She also said that it resembled a “flashback, a return to the 1970s, when women's groups took to the streets to demand their rights, rights which the Spanish Conservative government is once again threatening”. The European Socialists are calling on Spain to guarantee the sexual and reproductive rights as introduced by the previous Socialist government in 2010. They are also demanding the freedom of choice of all women through sex education, medical assistance, prevention, contraception, the morning after pill and abortion. The Socialists say that these rights are not just health-related but are also a matter of economic independence. (MD/transl.fl)