Spain and Abortions

It has been a long time since I have written about Spain. Indeed, at one point in history I wrote so often about the goings-on over there that I decided to have a specific tag "Spain". This has fallen by the wayside in recent months, but I have come across some quite disturbing news. See if you can count the ways this is wrong.

The State Coordinator of Feminist Organizations in Spain said this week that since 13-year-old girls can legally engage in sexual relations in Spain, “then they should also have the right to decide about the consequences of those relations,” without input from their parents.

The State Coordinator of Feminist Organizations sent 12,145 signatures to the Spanish Congress this week opposing the proposed reform of abortion laws, arguing that abortion on demand up to the fourteenth week is “clearly insufficient” and that the proposed reform does not guarantee legal protection for women and health care professionals who perform abortions.

Yolanda Iglesias, the spokesperson for the office, said one of the organization’s complaints is that the law should be broader. “We want the government’s reform not to be so restrictive, so that it truly can be one of the most advanced norms in Europe, as Socialist lawmakers assert it is,” she said.

The feminist groups also oppose requiring doctor’s approval for abortions between the fourteenth and twenty-second week of pregnancy, claiming the requirement leaves “the decision about health and maternity in the hands of others.” “For this reason we are sure that many pregnant women will travel to more permissive countries or will seek out clandestine abortions,” they said.

Here's what I found.

1. The age of consent is 13? How does that remotely even make sense?
2. If 13 is the age of consent, then that implies a certain maturity, but is it really warranted to assume a 13-year old girl has the emotional maturity to make such a decision without even consult of her parents. Would the laws in Spain allow a 13 year old to choose to not receive medical treatment for diabetes against her parents wishes? This should be no different.
3. Considering abortions are legal, what sort of "legal protections" do they mean?
4. Up to the 14th week not enough? What would be enough? I'm sure that any limit would be too restrictive.
5. "Advanced" is apparently the new word to mean liberal, or something of that nature. This is not the way I learned the word.
6. Wouldn't you think doctors would need to approve of an abortion? It would seem doctors need not even be involved in Spain.
7. For that matter, isn't the health of the patient the concern of a doctor in the first place?

Did I miss anything?