Pro-life groups call for end to “abortion tourism” in wake of British investigative report

Madrid, Spain, Oct 13, 2004 / 22:00 pm

In the wake of an investigative report by the UK’s The Sunday Telegraph uncovering illegal late-term abortions obtained by British women at a Barcelona clinic, several pro-life groups released information on other similar cases in Spain, calling for an end to “abortion tourism.”

According to Jose Maria Simon , president of the Christian Doctors of Catalonia (CDC), the report published in the British newspaper was the fruit of investigations by various Spanish organizations that defend “the culture of life.”

Simon did not specify the source of information published in The Sunday Telegraph on abortions performed at the Ginemedex clinic in Barcelona, but he said similar reports would be forthcoming in the US media.

Likewise, he lamented that lawsuits against abortion clinics in Barcelona and elsewhere in Spain have not been processed and have been archived.  “Sometimes, the prosecutor who is considering the lawsuit is one mood, and the judge in another,” Simon told the Spanish daily ABC.  “There is fraud taking place in Spain. You can get an abortion up to the ninth month, if you pay.”

While groups like the CDC are opposed to all abortions without exceptions, they are asking that “at least the law be obeyed, and that only those abortions that are permitted by law be allowed,” said Simon.

On the other hand, the Society for the Protection of "unborn" Children called for an end to “abortion tourism” this week.  “They bothered to find out that this service was taking place, but they failed in checking to see if it was legal.  This is hypocrisy upon hypocrisy,” said the group’s secretary, Paul Tully.

“Late-term abortions pose a high risk for the mother, and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service has not taken responsibility for the care of these women who have obtained abortions in Spain,” Tully denounced.

The Association of Abortion Victims denounced that women have the right to professional doctors who respect their health and the law.  The group’s president, Carmina García-Valdés, denounced that “women have the right to care by honest professionals who do not commit crimes like the falsification of documents or the performing of illegal abortions.”