Brussels, 24/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - No longer are there any questions over the right to abortion in Spain. The Right-wing government decided on Tuesday 23 September to withdraw its highly controversial Bill, introduced at the end of last year, restricting what has been a right in Spain since 2010. The Socialist and Democrat Group at the European Parliament was quick to welcome the decision. The chair of the Parliament's women's rights committee Iraxte Garcia Perez (S&D, Spain) said that this was a triumph for women. Her colleague Maria Arena (Belgium), S&D coordinator in the women's rights committee, expressed her pleasure that “extreme conservatism did not carry the day. Years of struggle for the fundamental right to abortion would have been swept away” (our translation). The European Parliament was very proactive on this issue. Plenary session debates made clear that abortion and the right of women to control their own bodies remain highly sensitive matters in the European Union and reveal differences between political families and between member states. (MD)