Biomedical subjects
Spain. Tribunal Supremo
Publications and source records attributed to Spain. Tribunal Supremo.
Judgment, 7 December, 1988.
In 1988, the Spanish Supreme Court lifted a suspension placed on the November 1986 Royal Decree facilitating the accreditation of private health centers performing abortions (see Annual Review of Population Law, Vol. 13, 1986, Section 240). The suspension had been granted by the Court at the request of pro-life organizations. The Court noted that "the health of women, in conformity with guidelines of the World Health Organization urgently requires immediate application of the Royal Decree, which seriously reduces the risk involved in termination of pregnancy."
Judgment, 5 December 1986.
The Court reversed the decision of a lower court, which had convicted the defendant of the crime of abortion after she had an abortion outside of Spain. It rejected the lower court's conclusion that the extraterritoriality clause of the Criminal Code should be applied because 1) the defendant had committed a legal fraud in trying to avoid punishment under the abortion law by having an abortion abroad and 2) the fetus, a future Spanish national, should be protected. The Court held that the Criminal Code contains no provisions on fraud of this sort and that there is no legal basis for the attribution of nationality to a fetus. It also held that application of the extraterritoriality clause of the Criminal Code violated provisions of the Spanish Constitution.
Judgment, 16 July 1987.
The Court dismissed a suit challenging the constitutionality of National Health Institute regulations that gave female workers with children under six a monthly payment for day care, but gave such a payment to men only if they were widowed. It held that such regulations did not violate sexual equality provisions of the Constitution because they were directed at ending de facto discrimination against women with small children by allowing them to keep permanent jobs. It concluded that in this situation male and female workers are in different situations and can thus be treated differently.