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Conservative Spanish government planning to restrict abortion

MADRID, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Spain's conservative government wants to limit the circumstances under which abortion is legal, Minister for Justice Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon says.

Ruiz-Gallardon said a final draft of proposed changes to the abortion law will be released in October, ThinkSpain reported Monday. He did not go into details but suggested the law would be in line with the Popular Party's longtime position that abortions should only be permitted when continuing a pregnancy would endanger a woman's life or health.

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he party said allowing abortions because a pregnancy would result in a handicapped child violated United Nations conventions on the rights of the disabled.

The party also wants to require all girls under the age of 18 to have parental permission for abortions.

The Spanish Socialist Workers Party or PSOE, which governed from 2004 to 2011, relaxed Spain's abortion law, bringing it into line with many countries in northern Europe. Abortions were allowed up to 14 weeks for a wide range of reasons, and girls 16 and 17 could have abortions without informing their parents, although they needed clearance from a psychiatrist.

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