Everything you need to know for women’s reproductive health in Spain.
UNSPLASH Reproductive Health Supplies CoalitionInsurance
Since the General Health Care Act of 1986, all legal Spaniard citizens are provided with free or low cost, universal healthcare. 99.7% of Spaniards utilize free healthcare, while the remaining 0.3% opt for privatized healthcare. Instituto Nacional de la Salud (The Spanish National Healthcare System) covers preventative and rehabilitation treatment, palliative care, and health promotion. Women’s health treatments, such as: birth control and plan-b contraception are available through health insurance and over-the-counter. Abortion is covered, however, there are strict guidelines for the procedure.
Women’s health has been a topic of lengthy discussions among medical professionals, specifically those fighting for better and equal representation regarding reproductive health issues. A study done in 1994 found that “class, race, and geography result in women having uneven access to medical care.” The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated these facts. It has been progressively harder for women to govern their childbirth. Doctors often ignore their boundaries and requests before, during, and after delivery. You can read these accounts here.
Franka Cadee, President of the International Confederation of Midwives, is fighting at the forefront for women’s reproductive rights in Spain and is vocal about the institutionalized sexism that causes these issues.
Madrid, Spain. UNSPLASH Sergio Rodriguez – Portugues del OlmoAbortion
Being a country built around religion, many pro-life activists in Spain‘s society and politics have fought to keep abortion under tight control, only being legalized in 1985. Depending on the circumstance, patients can’t entirely rely on public healthcare to cover the cost of an abortion, meaning that women would have to spend up to €500.
The Organic Law 2/2010 modified the original abortion regulations set in 1985, extending the abortion limit from 12 weeks to 14 weeks, with no third-party intervention. Pregnancy can be terminated if proven to be a serious health risk to the mother or fetus until the twenty-second week. There has been significant obstruction by religious, political figures, some opting to make abortion illegal even in an instance of rape.
Spain offers two pregnancy termination methods, medical abortion via drugs/medicine and surgical abortion, aka clinic or hospital intervention.
Emergency Contraception / Birth Control
In 2009, Spain’s government made emergency contraception available over the counter. Emergency contraception, called “La Pildora del dia despues,” is readily accessible to the public, and has been cited as the reason for the decrease in abortion since 2009. Similarly, birth control has become over-the-counter accessible. Though still able to be prescribed, the easy access to contraceptives and birth control has taken Spain in the right direction towards accessible reproductive health.
