Magazine Report: A history of abortion in Spain

While studying abroad in Spain, PARC Communications Coordinator Anayra B. Maldonado Quiles interviewed one of the co-founders of Sevilla's first abortion clinic.

You can read the original article (in Spanish) here or read a translated version in English below.

The 'untouchable' law with a clandestine history

Anayra B. Maldonado Quiles | Sevilla

(translated from original text in Spanish)

In Spain, the first clandestine abortion groups emerged in 1979, until the practice was legalized in 1985. José Ángel Lozoya Gómez didn't have a medical license, but he decided to learn and perform clandestine abortions to meet the needs of Spanish women during a time when having an abortion meant risking it all.

The first time José Ángel witnessed an abortion was in his own home. He lent his apartment to a friend who was part of a group of feminists who were pioneers in performing illegal abortions as a way of establishing the right to have an abortion in Spain. The scene took place in Valencia in 1979, during a time of Spanish democratic transition "in which it was not yet known how far the freedoms we were conquering were going".

"Abortion is the demand that has the greatest capacity to unite all feminist currents," declared José Ángel in an interview while enjoying a refreshing orange juice.

None of the women who were part of the group were doctors. The feminists received the women seeking abortions and, two or three times a week, a woman from Marseille went to Valencia to perform the abortions.

'La francesa', as José Ángel calls her, was interested in teaching anyone who wanted to learn how to perform an abortion, in case a situation arose that prevented her from coming to Valencia. The second time José Ángel lent his apartment, 'la francesa' invited him to the room where she was performing the abortion. "It seemed like a very simple thing to do," recalled José Ángel, who had heard his mother tell him about abortions that some of their neighbors in Valencia had had, the kind that were performed "with a needle, the dangerous kind where you really risked your life".

In front of him, he observed a woman lying on a table covered with clean sheets, and 'la francesa, who was moving a cannula inside the woman's cervix. "Out of there came something that looked like jelly and sometimes had a little red spot." 'La Francesa' was using the aspiration method, which by then was the safest way to abort. After 5 to 10 minutes, the time an abortion lasted, "the woman takes out the cannula, removes the clamp with which she was holding the cervix and... That's it!", exclaimed José Ángel, "Let the next one in!".

Soon, 'la francesa' and the group of feminists extended an invitation for José Ángel to join the group. He did so until an internal conflict caused the separation of the group. This is how José Ángel and two of his companions decided to move to Seville and open the first abortion clinic in Andalusia.

Clandestine abortion arrives in Seville

They chose Seville for several reasons, among them the fact that there were already three groups practicing clandestine abortion in Valencia. They were the only ones in all of Spain. "It was even dangerous because if the police performed a raid and Valencia fell, that resource would disappear." The move required one of the companions to go all the way to Paris to obtain the necessary materials, because they did not exist in Spain. It also required contacting feminist and leftist

organizations in the area to let them know that there would soon be a clandestine abortion clinic in Seville.

The Los Naranjos clinic, located at the steps of the Giralda, was established in January 1980. However, it was not in that location where the abortions were performed. "It wasn't there... not so that they wouldn't arrest you..." clarified José Ángel, for whom being arrested and the possibility of facing 6 years in jail for abortion was nothing new; he had been arrested for worse during the dictatorship. "It was about not getting arrested while you were doing it." The apartment next to the Giralda served as a reference point where women who were seeking abortion care arrived and were oriented about the process. "If they stop you in the middle of the procedure, and you have to interrupt it, that woman is left bleeding," he declared, raising his eyebrows. "That was what we couldn't allow."

A humanized situation

Women of all fertile ages came to the clinic: girls living with their parents and widows living with their in-laws; married women and single women. They were received in groups of three to improve the care they were given and as to not arouse suspicion. Normally there was at least one Sevillian woman in the group who lent her apartment as the place where the abortions were performed. Women were attended up to 12 weeks of gestation and the abortion cost 8,000

pesetas. Abortion by aspiration, which was the method used by the group, was not viable after 12 weeks because of the ossification of the fetus. "The safest method in the world became a very dangerous method after the 12th week of gestation," emphasized José Ángel.

The idea of a clandestine abortion was not associated with beautiful things. On many occasions, resorting to abortion was the result of situations of anguish and danger, such as the case of a woman who, upon sharing the news of her pregnancy with her partner, a policeman, was met with the ultimatum that "if you don't have an abortion, I'll kick it out of you" while a gun was pointed at her belly. On the other hand, many women imagined that, upon arrival, they would find an atmosphere of terror worthy of their worst nightmares. They were very surprised when they were greeted by a group of young people who showed them affection, attention and empathy. "It was very often the feeling that she was falling in love with you and you were falling in love with her," confessed José Ángel. Although the five to ten minutes that the abortion lasted were hard, the woman who was going to have an abortion was in a humanized situation. "They are having the abortion at that moment, you are performing the abortion, we are looking at each other, they are looking at you as if you were giving them life and you are trying, by all means, to make sure that she is calm, that she relaxes," recalled José Ángel, who consoled them by saying "that there is not much left, that the worst is over."

When they were arrested at the clinic after nine months of performing abortions, the Los Naranjos group had helped 432 women (from all 50 provinces of Spain, and one or two foreigners). At least, this is the figure documented in the police file. After the event, no one from the group ever performed an abortion again. When José Ángel was asked why he performed abortions, if he was not a doctor, he responded by saying "because no doctor does them", and affirmed that "the day doctors perform abortions would be the day he would stop".

In 1985 abortion was legalized in Spain. José Ángel was offered the opportunity to run a clinic, but the rhythms and methods of hospital work were not for him, as he stated when talking about "that typical doctor who doesn't even look you in the face".

José Ángel was part of a group that began an uphill battle that continues to make headlines today. Even knowing the risks of performing clandestine abortions, his only goal was to help. According to sources from the Ministry of Health in 2021 there were more than 90,000 women who decided and were able to have an abortion in Spain. And, although abortion continues to be a stigmatized topic in Spanish society, José Ángel assured that abortion is the topic that is not talked about, "but don't let them touch it".

Abortion Today

From being a clandestine act before the 1980s, abortion became recognized as an essential service during the COVID-19 pandemic. Spain currently has a law that guarantees women a confidential and private abortion, financed by the Public Health Service, either in a public health center or in a private clinic. This was confirmed by Eva Rodríguez Armario, vice-president of the Association of Accredited Clinics for the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy (ACAI) and medical director of Ginesur, a private clinic in Seville.

"I believe that right now, if abortion were banned in Spain, there would be a revolution," she said with certainty and hope. "People are so used to the fact that they can do it, especially young people, and I can't imagine that now suddenly it couldn't be done."

Even with a law that guarantees safe and accessible abortion for those who need it (although there are obstacles that hinder it in different autonomous communities and social stigma remains), there is concern among experts like Dr. Rodriguez Armario, who have seen the evolution of abortion in Spain. "We believe that a few years from now, instrumentation abortion is going to disappear," declared the medical director.

"It's going to be a major loss for women and women's rights."

The decrease in demand for instrumentation (procedural) abortions, as opposed to medication abortions, is leaving health professionals who perform instrumentation abortions about to retire with no "generational replacement" and creating supply chain issues. "There is starting to be a shortage of suction cannulas because they are consumed less and the companies are not interested."

When this group of professionals, many close to retirement, advocates for the importance of the instrumental method, they are accused of doing so for economic interests. "I get paid the same," Eva declared, dismissing this accusation, and at the same time emphasized that she is about to retire. More than 30 years of experience have made it clear to her that "what women want is to

have a quick, safe abortion and not to be aware of the abortion" and she recognized that the medication method "is the opposite".

The medical director theorizes that it is the pharmaceutical industry that has economic interests in the practice of abortion. When Eva joined FIPAC (International Federation of Abortion and Contraception Professionals), most of the abortions performed were instrumental abortions.

Now, she points out that "the only laboratory that puts money into the FIAPAC congresses and pays FIAPAC members to publish and attend the congresses is the mifepristone laboratory. What is happening? Now, only medication abortion is being discussed at FIAPAC. "We are going to end up with no staff and no material to perform instrumental abortions if things continue like this. And I think that's going to be a major loss for women and women's rights."

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