Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the conservative responses to the expansion of women rights in the discussion of the Gallardon Bill in Spain. Based on ethnographic work in Andalucía, it analyzes moral, legal and health issues, and considers the impact of this discussion on the actual practice of abortion.

Paper long abstract:

In Spain, the expansion of women rights discussed during the Gallardon Bill debates was followed by conservative responses that intended to diminish those rights. This paper examines and presents this process. Abortion has been legal in Spain for over 20 years. When the Gallardon Bill intending to ban legal abortion was presented in 2014, it had an immediate social reaction. Social movements dramatically opposed its aim to ban abortion, to the point that after a few months of public discussion, the bill was rejected. This paper examines how this process took place and specifically how and if it affected the practice of abortion. The emphasis in this analysis is given to the conservative responses to women's rights expansion, and considering these responses in the domains of moral, legal and health issues. Finally, this paper also presents some comparisons with conservative responses in the Uruguayan case, where gynecologists' moral objections have become an important issue in the implementation of the voluntary interruption of pregnancy Act.

Methodologically this paper is based ethnographic fieldwork in Andalucia with women's rights movement and health care staff. Additionally, these data are combined with the analysis of public and political documents.