The Spanish Parliament approved this Thursday a measure that grants women paid leave for suffering painful periods, in a day in which the majority of legislators gave the green light to the abortion reform and the first trans law and LGTBI rights in the country .
This new permit will last three days under medical supervision, although it may be extended up to five days for those with disabling rules: longer leave is contemplated depending on the case.
Symptoms can range from severe pain, cramps, colic, to nausea, dizziness or vomiting.
The Minister of Equality of Spain, Irene Montero, celebrates the approval of the trans law and the abortion reform in Parliament, on February 16, 2023.Europa Press via Getty Images
In addition, the educational centers that serve women at risk of exclusion and the country's prisons must offer free hygiene products for menstruation.
The goal is that, over time, all public entities adopt this measure.
Menstrual health, which includes this new license, is part of the abortion reform also approved this Thursday by Spanish deputies, which
allows 16 and 17-year-old girls to abort without the consent of their parents
and enables health centers State agencies provide hormonal contraceptives and the morning after pill.
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In addition, it enshrines the right to have an abortion in a public hospital.
Currently, more than 80% of these procedures in Spain are performed in private clinics due to the high number of doctors in the public system who refuse to perform them, most for religious reasons.
"There will be resistance"
Under the new legislation, specialists in public hospitals will not be required to perform abortions, as long as they have registered their objections in writing.
"There is going to be resistance to the application of this law, as there is and has been with all feminist laws," warned the Minister of Equality, Irene Montero, promoter of the reform. "It is time to work to guarantee that, when it enters into force, in all public hospitals there are enough personnel for the voluntary termination of pregnancy, respecting conscientious objection", he added about the norm, which makes Spain the first country in Europe with this type of license.
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At the same time, the Spanish Parliament also approved the trans and LGTBI rights law, the negotiation of which caused a fracture between the partners of the left-wing government formed by PSOE and Podemos Unidas, and generated a split in the feminist movement.
The source of division has been precisely the essence of the norm itself: free gender self-determination, which
allows anyone over the age of 16 to change their name and sex on their identity card only with their will
.
In this way, it eliminates the obligation to present a medical report that supports gender dysphoria.
Minors between the ages of 12 and 13 will need judicial authorization to proceed with the change, while those between the ages of 14 and 16 must be accompanied by their parents or legal guardians.
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The trans law also prohibits so-called conversion therapies for LGBTI people, provides public assistance to lesbian, bisexual and single women seeking in vitro fertilization treatment, and supports the filiation of babies for unmarried lesbian couples. (Until now, either they had to get married, or one of the women was the biological mother and the other had to adopt, just like gay male couples.)
“I am aware that the road does not end here, that we have not managed to incorporate non-binary realities, immigrant trans people and others that we will discover moving forward.
We have taken as big a giant step as we can," said Montero, from Unidas Podemos, about the new legislation.
With information from
The Associated Press
and
El País