Four Decades of Feminist Activism for Universal Abortion Access in Madrid

• The Madrid Commission for the Right to Abortion has spent 40 years fighting for safe, legal access to voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVE).
• Despite legal protections, access to abortion in Madrid's public health system remains severely limited; only 0.47% of abortions in the region in 2024 were performed in public hospitals.

Current Barriers

• Refusal to implement a registry of conscientious objectors: Madrid remains the only Spanish region that has not created this mandatory internal list to ensure staff availability.
• Structural obstacles for marginalized groups: Migrant women without health cards face significantly higher barriers to care.
• Institutional challenges: Medical staff who are not objectors often face isolation and excessive workloads due to the systemic lack of support for abortion services.

Key Demands

• Immediate implementation of state-mandated legal frameworks, including effective medical staffing at public hospitals.
• Decriminalization of abortion by removing it entirely from the Penal Code.
• Protection against the harassment of patients and staff at private clinics, which remains a persistent issue.
• Updating the 15-year-old National Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy to allow for better inter-administrative oversight.

Legacy of Advocacy

• The movement emphasizes a genealogy of struggle, referencing historic milestones like the 1980s Basauri group and the 2013 mass protests that led to the resignation of former Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón.
• The Commission continues to advocate for intersectional, anti-colonial, and anti-capitalist feminism, viewing public space as a vital site for political change.