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ABORTION REFORM

Femen activist interrupts Senate abortion debate with topless demo

Protestor from feminist group also shows red-stained underwear before she is removed

Video: A Femen activist protests abortion reform.Photo: atlas | Video: ATLAS

A pro-choice activist on Wednesday interrupted a session in the Spanish Senate held to approve abortion reform legislation.

The member of international feminist protest group Femen climbed on the handrail separating the public seating area from the rest of the chamber, bared her breasts, and pulled up her skirt to reveal underwear dyed with a red stain.

The only major change to the 2010 law is that under-18s will have to get parental consent to undergo an abortion

After crying out “Freedom to abort” and “My body, my rules” repeatedly, she was forcibly removed by two security guards from an otherwise empty section of the chamber.

The abortion reform bill was passed by Congress on July 16 and now requires Senate approval before becoming law.

But when it does, it will be in a much watered-down form in comparison with the original plans of the Popular Party (PP) government.

The conservative administration had been planning to repeal the Socialist government’s 2010 law allowing abortion on demand in the first trimester, and take Spain back to a case-based system.

More information
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But there was such a backlash to the plans, even within the PP itself, that Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy withdrew the draft in September 2014 and came up with a new version that maintains abortion on demand.

The only major change to the 2010 law is that under-18s will have to get parental consent in order to undergo an abortion.

English version by Susana Urra.

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