Avila, Spain, Jul 28, 2009 / 01:16 am
The president of the Bishops’ Conference of Spain, Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, said last Friday that the proposed new law on abortion and reproductive health being debated in the country “is unconstitutional.”
At the close of a summer university course, the cardinal said, “My personal opinion, outside of my position as a cardinal, bishop or priest, but instead as a lawyer who has studied the law for years, is that it is clearly unconstitutional.” His comments came in response to the Spanish Justice Department which has not reached a consensus on the constitutionality of the proposed reform.
Cardinal Rouco referred to a review of the law by conservative jurists who argue that it violates the constitution, and to a report by a Justice department study commission that supported the reform but was not able to muster a majority vote in favor of the new law.