“Please help me” wrote Marta* from Spain who needed to access an abortion in June 2020. “I went to the nearest public health centre, and they asked me to think it over for five days. When I came back, they asked me to think it over again, because, as the doctor put it, I am running out of time to become a mother.”
This message was sent to Women on Web, an online abortion service that provides women with vital information on how to have a safe abortion by taking a combination of pills. Marta had been misinformed by her public health centre – the law in Spain asks women to reflect on their decision for just three days. This is important in such cases, as there are time limits on when women can have abortions.
Marta’s story reflects what is at stake in a lawsuit that my organisation, Women’s Link Worldwide, filed last week before the Spanish National Court, on behalf of Women on Web. Without accurate, comprehensive information about their legal rights and healthcare options, women don’t know what to do or where to go to get a safe abortion and may be denied their reproductive rights in practice.
