Madrid, Spain, Mar 10, 2008 / 16:12 pm
The Spanish Committee of Representatives of Handicapped People has called a statute that allows for abortion of fetuses with birth defects “discriminatory” and “against human rights,” stressing that “one of the rights of the handicapped is the right to be born.”
Roser Romero, member of the committee, said the statute in the law on abortion “goes against the rights of persons.” “If nobody should suffer discrimination, and the current Government talks about equality a lot, that statute does discriminate,” he said.
Romero said abortion is a “delicate issue involving ethical convictions and religious beliefs,” adding that the question is “not about when life begins.”
“Many women do not choose abortion freely,” he added, “but rather find themselves in a situation in which they don’t know how to move forward, sometimes out of ignorance,” and “sometimes they are quietly pushed to abort by family members or doctors.”