Madrid, Spain, Mar 24, 2004 / 22:00 pm
According to the pro-life group “Provida,” 96% of gynecologists in Spain’s public hospitals refuse to perform abortions.
Justo Aznar, head of the Department of Biopathology at La Fe Hospital in Valencia, says, “Spanish gynecologists clearly believe that their job is oriented towards giving life and in no way towards the destruction of unborn embryos.” He also underscores that because this is their area of expertise, they are first in noticing the new life of an embryo. “At 20 days after conception the heart is already beating and gynecologists know this,” he added.
Ironically the refusal to perform abortions began when the practice was legalized in 1985. For example, in 1986, of the one hundred gynecologists working at La Paz Hospital in Madrid, only two were open to performing abortions.
In other regions, such as Valencia, up to the end of 2003 no abortions had been performed for 5 years, and at La Fe Hospital, the largest in Valencia, only one doctor has performed abortions.