The Spanish legal system has long recognized the right to abortion and, therefore, in one way or another, the State must guarantee that all people who meet the legal conditions can exercise their right.
To deny it would be to place us in an anarchist and individualist position, in which I fear that Minister Mónica García wants to place those of us who do not agree with abortion.
Health Minister Mónica García during a press conference on July 30.
Europe Press
But liberal states, since we abandoned absolutism, recognize a much more honorable and dignified place for those who, in conscience, do not think like the majority. There is a possible balance between not dutifully submitting to the majority and not becoming an anarchist rebel.
The legal concept of conscientious objection recognizes the existence of an internal forum available to every individual and which no public power can violate. It is not a way of opposing the law, it is not an instrument of rebellion, but rather the protection of the person so as not to be forced to act against their convictions.
On the issue of abortion and euthanasia, almost all European countries, with the exception of Sweden, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, recognize the right to object. Spain is therefore one of the countries that recognizes conscientious objection, which means accepting that there are health professionals, such as doctors and nurses, who do not practice certain abortive or eugenic practices.
The opponent’s situation will always be very vulnerable because they are a minority. Think of a Muslim conscientious objector in a country with a Christian majority, or vice versa. The opponent is one precisely because he is the exception to a majority recognized by the legal order. And because they are a minority, they are vulnerable and therefore deserve special protection.
This is the reason why the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in its article 18, which includes freedom of conscience, recognizes at the same time that no one can be forced to reveal their thoughts or their adherence to a religion or beliefs.
It is obvious that if we want to protect freedom of conscience, we must protect the right not to express it. And because this is obvious, European jurisprudence recognizes it in several cases, and the Spanish Constitution, in article 30, protects it.
If the Sexual and Reproductive Health Act establishes a mandate to establish a registry of conscientious objectors, the law is unconstitutional.and there is no more discussion. And it is for the worst reason, because it violates freedom of conscience, which is the last area that can be violated before sinking into totalitarianism.
This is the lesson of the Second World War: conscience is the last barrier against totalitarian abuses.
Those of us who do not agree with abortion must respect the law in force and not fall into the trap that Mónica García sets for us by caricaturing us as rebels, individualists and anarchists. But we must resist the hijacking of public debate by those in power, because The issue of abortion is much more open than our minister is willing to acknowledge..
We cannot accept being cornered or, what is much more serious, that everyone’s freedom of conscience is violated, no matter how different their opinions may be.
