NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      MADRID (CWNews.com) - The Spanish parliament, by a narrow margin, defeated a proposed law to legalize abortion on demand for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy on Tuesday.

      The law, defeated 173-172, would have allowed an abortion if it created a personal, social, or family conflict for the mother. Current law only allows abortion if the unborn child is deformed, the pregnancy is the result of rape, or the mother's psychological or physical health is threatened.

      The bill, proposed by the main opposition Socialist Party, has already been blocked twice by conservative Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's Popular Party since it took office in 1996. Socialist presidential candidate Jose Borrell said his party would not present it again before the next general elections, the national news agency EFE reported. Two other proposals, with even more liberal allowances for abortion, were also defeated on Tuesday.