Spain passes law allowing minors abortions and trans treatment without parental consent

Spain’s Congress passed a law last week which allowing transgender hormonal treatments and genital surgery for minors 16 years old without parental consent, according to the National Catholic Register. 

The bill, known commonly as the “Trans Law,” and formally as the “Law for the Real and Effective Equality of Trans Persons and for the Guarantee of LGTBI Rights,” was pushed by the socialist ruling coalition with the backing of “LGTBI” groups.

The law passed the Congress of Deputies despite opposition from advisory bodies during the legislative process.

Both the Council of State and the General Council of the Judiciary strongly opposed some of the provisions of the law, especially with regard to the lack of protection for minors.

The new law no longer requires a medical report diagnosing gender dysphoria or hormone treatment for two years, and changes a range of rights for young people between 12 and 16 years old under specific conditions.

The new law allows minors from the age of 16 to change their name and sex in the civil registry upon request.

Those between 14 and 16 must have the consent of the parents, legal guardians or a judge and those between 12 and 14 must have judicial authorization.

Those under the age of 12 cannot have such changes entered into the civil registry, but the law dictates those minors must be treated in accordance with their expressed sexual identity.

The new law also guarantees members of the LGBTI community access to assisted reproduction programs, and recognizes the filiation of children of lesbians and bisexuals without the need for them to be officially married.

In a new approach to discrimination, the new law also introduces the condition of being a “sexile,” in reference to instances in which “LGTBI” people may be reluctant to leave their place of residence due to social prejudices.

In terms of reproductive choices, the law allows minors to abort without their parents' permission from the age of 16, annulling prior legal requirements established by the conservative government in 2015.

Abortion was decriminalized in Spain in 1985 and then legalized in 2010, but it remains a convoluted process in the traditionally Catholic country.

Congress added another law Feb. 16 so that workers who suffer from painful periods can take a "menstrual leave," a pioneering measure in Europe to which Spain now joins.