Abortion splits church and state in Spanish row

by Gabriella Gamini in Barcelona AS Spain's justice system and socialist government ponder on relaxing harsh laws against abortion, leaders of the Catholic church have stepped in with vociferous condemnation.
Auxiliary Bishop Javier Martinez of Madrid, a member of the episcopal committee for the defence of life, warned that any kind of acceptance of abortion is tantamount to "genocide in the Nazi extermination camps". In a document released last week the pro-life committee on abortion described termination of pregnancy as an issue which "opens doors to totalitarianism". It urged Catholics to opt politically against abortion.
Bishop Javier Martinez's involvement in the anti-abortion campaign sparked criticism from Spain's minister of social affairs, Matilde Fernandez. "If the church threatens excommunication for abortion then the bishop will have to excommunicate thousands of women."
The justice minister Tomas de la Qu'adra-Salcedo said the church had the right to express its opinion but the government was forced to aim at legislation which takes into account society as a whole.
Widespread debate over abortion has been sparked off in Spain recently by the case of a gynaecologist from the southern coastal town of Malaga, sentenced to four years imprisonment for performing an abortion on a I4-year-old girl.
The imprisonment of German Saenz de Santamaria, decided by Malaga courts, was criticised by the ministry of justice of the central government in Madrid. Although not going as far as proposing a law legalising abortion in Spain, the ministry of justice has said it aims at reform of the penal code. which would stop imprisonment of doctors performing abortions.
According to polls 70 per cent of Spaniards would back a more liberal view of abortion, but the church says only a minority would back the government legalising it.
"Surely it is wrong for the state to sanction abortion if only a small minority perceive it as justifiable?" the document by the pro-life committee said.
The committee's report called on doctors and medical associations to voice "conscious" objection. But women's groups throughout Spain attacked the church for its "medieval" insistent, on pursuing moral issues without looking at social and psychological concerns of women.
The existence of "back street" clinics, abortions performed abroad and the medical risks incurred by unqualified doctors performing illegal operations, have as yet not been subject of open debate.