Between 130,000 and 160,000 people demonstrated in central Madrid, Spain, on Saturday against laws that make abortion easier, according to organizers.Demonstrators hold a banner reading 'women against abortion
' during a march against a bill to ease restrictions on abortion, in Madrid, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. The protest was called to denounce a bill that would allow unrestricted abortion at up to 14 weeks of pregnancy and let girls aged 16 and 17 have abortions without parental consent, a vivid and emotional show of how the issue remains sensitive two decades after abortion was legalized in this traditionally Roman Catholic country.Protesters marched under the slogan, "Yes to Life," and urged the "abolition of all permissive abortion laws and the withdrawal of all the provisions making it easier for euthanasia and the manipulation of human embryos," according to the manifesto read during the protest.
The march was in observance of International Day for Life, which is an annual event on March 25.
Recently in Spain, a new law came into force that allows abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. It also legalized abortion up until the 22nd week of pregnancy in the cases of rape, fetal abnormality, or when the mother’s physical or mental health are at risk.
Furthermore, there is no time limit for abortion in cases where the fetus is suffering from a serious or incurable illness certified by a medical committee.
"We want to say ‘yes to life,’ say ‘yes’ to the birth of a son,” said Ana Maria Llera de la Torre of the Adevida-Jaén Association to The Christian Post. “We intend to celebrate life. The demonstration goes against abortion.”
