The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced that the Council of State has issued a favourable opinion on the Executive’s proposal to protect the right to abortion in the Constitution. Sánchez stated that they will push for this change, as the current legislation is not being adhered to by referring cases to private clinics. During the launch of the PSOE electoral campaign in Castilla y León, Sánchez remarked that the right and the far right would accuse him of using this issue as a smokescreen, although he attributed the timing of the Council of State’s report to coincidence. He argued that, although this right is legislated in Spain, the law is not being followed, citing that in communities such as Castilla y León, only 15 per cent of voluntary interruptions of pregnancy are carried out in public centres, while the rest are referred to private clinics. «That is why it is crucial to protect this right,» emphasised Sánchez, convinced that it cannot be the case that the party governing in an autonomous community decides whether or not women’s rights are respected, as they must be upheld without exception, and he assured that the right to abortion will be enshrined in the Constitution.
