Thanks to Carles for coming to the protest and shooting such a fab video!
Thanks to Carles for coming to the protest and shooting such a fab video!
My Belly is Mine protested peacefully at the Spanish Embassy on Friday, the 27th of June, 2014 against the Spanish antiabortion law. We had taken the lead from the Spanish Federation of Feminist Organizations, also known as Coordinadora Feminista, which had announced that it was protesting against the law in front of the Spanish Ministry of Justice, in Madrid, that day. The location for their protest was apposite as the main force behind this unjust law is Spain’s Justice Minister, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón. The date was also appropriate to begin with, as the government had announced that the draft bill would be entering parliament on the 27th. At the very last minute, however, Gallardón postponed the bill’s entry to parliament to coincide with the antichoice conference in Madrid. Nevertheless, the protests around Spain and in Madrid, not to mention abroad (Berlin, Vienna, Lisbon, Marseille, Burgundy, Montevideo…), went ahead.
Unfortunately, towards the end of the protest in Madrid, as protesters were leaving, tension erupted between police and protestors. Here’s a video that was taken by witness to the incident, Mario Munera. It’s clear that Spanish police were more than heavy-handed in their approach to controlling the crowds:
In support of our fellow activists in Spain, who should be free to protest and defend the rights of their countrywomen, we would like to express our condemnation of the unnecessary brutality of the Spanish police.
Yesterday, 27th of June, 2014, My Belly is Mine, in collaboration with Irish prochoice activists Speaking of I.M.E.L.D.A and the Spanish Women’s Assembly from the 15M movement, protested at the Spanish Embassy in London against the antiabortion law that the Partido Popular are attempting to pass in Spain.
We congregated with around 70 supporters in front of the embassy and read out the following joint statement in English and Spanish:
Comedian, activist and vice-chair of Abortion Rights, the UK campaign for abortion, Kate Smurthwaite also showed up to support our campaign and addressed the crowd. In her speech, Kate reminded us that the opposite of abortion is forced pregnancy, a cruel and perverse form of punishment:
The crowd then faced the embassy to chant:
And finally, we crossed the street to get our pictures taken in front of the embassy:
On Wednesday the 25th of June, 2014, the Spanish Ambassador in London, Federico Trillo, hosted a reception for the British Spanish Society. My Belly is Mine turned up uninvited alongside direct action feminist group Speaking of I.M.E.L.D.A and the Spanish Women’s Assembly from the 15M movement in London. We wanted to remind the Ambassador, his guests and passersby that the rights of women are under serious threat in Spain.
On Friday, the Spanish antiabortion draft bill, know unofficially as Gallardón’s Law, and officially as The organic law for the protection of the life of the conceived and the rights of the pregnant woman (whatever), will be taken to parliament.
Here’s looking at you, kid.
Thousands upon thousands of people have marched the streets not just in Spain but all over Europe, North and South America time and time again to protest this law since it was announced in December 2013. Prochoice campaigners worldwide have tirelessly told Gallardón and his government that women should be the ones to decide if and when they want to become mothers. Spanish citizens the length and the breadth of the country also responded to surveys saying they were not happy with the proposed abortion reform. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are just two of the international organisations that have publicly condemned the reform. But did Gallardón listen? Of course he didn’t. He replied by saying that “no insult” would deter him in his mission to protect the rights of the unborn.
And now an article in The Irish Times, citing government sources via the Spanish daily El País, claims that the Spanish government has bowed to the pressure of the protests by implementing changes in the bill that will allow women to terminate pregnancies when the foetus presents abnormalities. There may be some gullible enough to believe Rajoy’s government, firstly, cares one iota about what its citizens want, secondly, has genuinely listened to the voices of the people and, finally, is willing to negotiate the terms of the reform. Indeed, prochoice campaigners and activists saw this concession coming along for miles. It was always Gallardón’s strategy to present the bill in its most radical form and to then eliminate its more controversial aspects thus appeasing less radical Partido Popular voters and members within the party and fooling some into believing he’s not such a bad chap after all. With headlines such as this: Spain’s abortion legislation ‘changed after protests’, Gallardón’s ploy seems to be having its intended effect.
…are all protesting against Spanish abortion reform this Friday 27th of June. Join us in London too to let the Spanish government know that we stand by the women and girls of Spain, that we will not back down until abortion is fully decriminalized and a safe and legal option for every one of them.
Check out this wonderful video produced by the Spanish feminist collective Feminismos 15MBerlin, in which women say no to Gallardón’s law in a multitude of languages.
This photograph is doing the rounds on Twitter.
Déjá Vu for Spanish women who are seeing their rights eroded again
I don’t know who it is by (and I will be happy to credit or remove, if they contact us) but it was accompanied by the following statement in Spanish and which I translated into English:
Spanish women protested abortion laws, saw their daughters protest abortion laws, and now they are seeing their granddaughters protest abortion laws.
History repeating itself once more.
This Friday (27th of June), the Spanish antiabortion draft bill, known as Gallardón’s law after the minister whose brainchild it is, will begin its process through the Spanish parliament.
Follow My Belly is Mine on Twitter to keep up to date with latest events, developments and our actions in London over the summer to protest this law.
Spanish “Justice” Minister, Alberto Ruíz-Gallardón, the man behind one of the most cruel, misogynist and regressive laws in recent Spanish history, is forging ahead with his antiabortion draft bill despite international organisations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International condemning his proposed law.
Daddy will get me out of this one…
The man who believes he can decide the fate of thousands of Spanish women, however, is reluctant to divulge any information on his son, José Ruiz Gallardón Utrera, who was recently accused of being involved in a car accident and of fleeing the scene by taking refuge in his father’s house. Spain’s “Justice” Minister said of the incident: “it’s a family matter”. Since when are criminal investigations a family matter? Gallardón Sr. is not only an autocrat but he also clearly assumes he and his family are above the law.