Spain approves menstrual leave, teen abortion and trans laws
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The Spanish parliament on Thursday approved the creation of a sick leave for women suffering from incapacitating periods, becoming the first country in Europe to do so.
The new bill creates the possibility for women to call in sick “in case of incapacitating menstruation,” the Spanish Congress said in a statement Thursday.
It was adopted by 185 votes against 154, with three abstentions. The vote is a win for Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist government, overcoming internal disagreements within his own party (Carmen Calvo, a Socialist lawmaker, who used to be the vice president of the government under Sánchez’s previous Cabinet, abstained from the vote). The bill was supported by a wide-ranging left-wing coalition including the Socialist Party, far-left Podemos and two pro-Catalan independence parties, while the conservative Popular Party and far-right Vox voted against the measure.
The bill is part of a broader law, which notably aims to facilitate access to abortion in public hospitals, but also includes the free provision of menstrual products in schools and prisons.
The changes to sexual and reproductive rights mean that 16- and 17-year-olds in Spain can now undergo an abortion without parental consent. Period products will now be offered free in schools and prisons, while state-run health centers will do the same with hormonal contraceptives and the morning after pill. The menstrual leave measure allows workers suffering debilitating period pain to take paid time off.
In addition, the changes enshrine in law the right to have an abortion in a state hospital. Currently more than 80% of termination procedures in Spain are carried out in private clinics due to a high number of doctors in the public system who refuse to perform them — with many citing religious reasons.
Under the new system, state hospital doctors won’t be forced to carry out abortions, provided they’ve already registered their objections in writing.
The same day, the Spanish Congress approved another law strengthening protection for LGBTQ+ rights — prompting the Spanish Equality Minister, Irene Montero, to celebrate on Twitter a “historic day for advancing feminist rights.”
