A grave injustice

Year for Priests, economic crisis, 50th anniversary of Manos Unidas, reflections on the bill on abortion, religious education in schools: these are just some of the issues discussed by the 214th meeting of the Permanent Commission of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, which ended in Madrid on 2 October. But the main focus of the meeting was reflection on the new bill on abortion presented to Parliament by the Socialist government of Premier José Luis Zapatero. The country is divided on it. A national protest rally is to be held in Madrid on 17 October, organized by many movements, both religious and lay. The protest march will follow a route from the Puerta del Sol to Plaza de Alcalá. Its slogan will be “In defence of life, women and maternity”. The bill. The government of Spanish Premier Zapatero approved a bill on abortion in recent days. It will now pass to the scrutiny of Parliament. According to the provisions of the proposed legislation, even underage girls (16 and over) will be able to have an abortion without the consent of their parents and without even any obligation to tell them of their pregnancy. If the bill were to be passed by Parliament, it would change the law on abortion that has been in force in Spain since 1985. The government’s bill would permit women during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy to decide to have an abortion without any obligation to justify their decision by pleading any reason at all. From the 14th to the 22nd week women will only be able to abort if there is a risk to the life or health of the mother or if anomalies to the foetus were to be diagnosed. The most bitterly contested aspect of the proposed legislation is that concerning freedom to abort even for underage girls aged 16 without the permission of their parents and without any need even to inform them of their condition.The position of the bishops. The statement “Attempt against the life of unborn children converted into law”, rejecting the bill on abortion, and published by the Permanent Commission on 17 June, “fully maintains its value”, insist the bishops. In the final communiqué issued at the end of the most recent meeting of the Permanent Commission, the bishops earnestly recommend everyone to read and to diffuse its text, especially priests and all those who share the mission of teaching in the Church. Apart from providing information on “so gravely unjust a bill” and on the need for doctrinal formation in respect for life in the womb, the bishops consider that “prayer is also indispensable”. In view of the grave problems raised by the bishops, the year 2009 has been particularly dedicated to “prayer for incipient human life”. The bishops exhort “all the faithful to pray with insistence, so that the right to life of the unborn may be adequately protected by the law”. The sub-commission of the Family and Life has published a suggested personal and community prayer that may help to this end. The Spanish bishops, moreover, never cease to “recall – says the final communiqué – the doctrine of the Church, according to which the natural and divine law require that each and every human life be respected as sacred from conception to natural death. They cannot therefore fail to share the rejection that the legislation on abortion arouses in the institutions and in a large part of civil society”. Opinion polls. In fact, according to an opinion poll published by the Spanish daily “La Vanguardia” on 6 October, a relative majority of the Spanish people are contrary to the new law on abortion, presented to Parliament by the government of Premier Zapatero: 46% are against it, 46% in favour. A previous opinion poll, conducted for “La Vanguardia” a year ago indicated, by contrast, that 57% of those interviewed were in favour of a reform of the law on abortion. Among the various initiatives for the defence of the right to life and the just promotion of maternity, many associations have invited citizens to participate in the protest rally in Madrid on 17 October. In the final communiqué of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, the Spanish bishops declare, for their part, that they “consider it legitimate and appropriate” to participate in the event because “it will be a way of demonstrating peacefully to express one’s own disagreement with the bill, which would entail a serious step backward in the protection of the right to life of unborn children, greater loneliness for pregnant women and irreparable harm to the common good”. The voice of the Salesians. Spanish Salesians too have come out in opposition to the new law on abortion. Don Francisco Ruiz, inspector of Spain-Seville, has sent a letter to Salesian priests, to members of the Salesian Family and to all those who feel close to the mission of don Bosco. “I confess – says Father Ruiz – that for some time I was really worried. I couldn’t believe we were in a situation so antagonistic to the Gospel”. “So I then decided – he added – to urge mobilization on all those who wish to ‘act’, following the dictates of their own conscience, because ‘a faith without good works is a dead faith'”. The words of don Ruiz wish to be an appeal to the Salesian Family and to the huge movement of friends of don Bosco to take action and, to this end, the Superior also proposes their participation in the protest rally planned for 17 October.