Spanish government approves restrictive abortion law

The Spanish Cabinet approved controversial modifications to the nation's abortion law Friday, tightening conditions for abortions. Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon announced the changes to the 2010 statute, which will return conditions for abortion to requirements in a 1985 law. Abortions will be allowed only if the delivery of the baby presents a health risk to the mother, or if the pregnancy was the result of rape, he said. "The stage system will no longer be in effect," he added, a reference to the current law allowing women to abort up to their 14th week of pregnancy. The modifications in the law will be debated in Congress at the beginning of next year, the Madrid newspaper El Pais reported.