Gibraltar voters back easing of abortion ban

Supporters of the changes cheered and clapped when an official read out the referendum result at the University of Gibraltar after midnight Thursday.

MADRID — Voters in Gibraltar have endorsed legislative changes that will ease the British territory’s current ban on abortion.

Supporters of the changes cheered and clapped when an official read out the referendum result at the University of Gibraltar after midnight Thursday.

The yes vote captured a majority of 62%. Officials said 12,343 votes were cast, a turnout of 53%.

Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, who heads the government, said the legislation will take effect within 28 days.

Abortion is currently illegal in Gibraltar unless it is needed to save the mother’s life, and is punishable by up to life in prison. It is one of Europe’s most restrictive laws on pregnancy termination.

The referendum, postponed from last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, was held to ask voters whether they agreed with a 2019 decision by parliament to allow exemptions to the abortion law on health grounds.

The approved legislation will allow pregnancies to be terminated up to the 12th week if doctors deem the woman’s physical or mental health to be at risk or if there is risk of fatal fetal abnormality.

Gibraltar is a speck of British land on Spain’s southern tip. Many locals live and work across the border. In Spain, abortion is allowed upon request up to the 14th week of pregnancy.

Most political parties backed the yes vote. The leaders of the two parties in Gibraltar’s governing coalition, the Socialist Labor Party and the Liberal Party, joined with the Together Gibraltar party in urging voters to back the change. The leader of the main opposition Social Democrats fought the move.

Some 80% of Gibraltarians are Catholic, and the bishop of Gibraltar spoke out against the proposed changes. The Gibraltar Pro-Life Movement argued that the legal change amounts to introducing abortion on demand, because the mental-health proviso can be misused.

Campaigners for the “Gibraltar for Yes” group said women should have the right to decide about terminating their pregnancies in Gibraltar’s public health care system.