SPAIN OKS ABORTION, TRANS RIGHTS, MENSTRUAL LEAVE

The Spanish Parliament on Thursday approved legislation expanding abortion and transgender rights for teenagers, while making Spain the first country in Europe that will entitle workers to paid menstrual leave.

The driving force behind the two laws was Equality Minister Irene Montero, who belongs to the junior member in Spain’s left-wing coalition government, the “United We Can” Party.

The changes to sexual and reproductive rights mean that 16- and 17-year-olds in Spain can now undergo an abortion without parental consent. Period products will now be offered free in schools and prisons, while state-run health centers will do the same with hormonal contraceptives and the morning-after pill. The menstrual leave measure allows workers suffering debilitating period pain to take paid time off.

In addition, the changes enshrine in law the right to have an abortion in a state hospital. More than 80 percent of termination procedures in Spain are carried out in private clinics.

A separate package of reforms also approved on Thursday strengthened transgender rights, including allowing any citizen over 16 years old to change their legally registered gender without medical supervision.

Minors ages 12 and 13 years old will need a judge’s authorization to change, while those between 14 to 16 must be accompanied by their legal guardians.

Previously, transgender people needed a diagnosis by several doctors of gender dysphoria. The second law also bans so-called “conversion therapy“for LGBTQ people and provides state support for lesbians and single women seeking IVF treatment.