MADRID —
Spain's ruling conservative Popular Party has used its majority in Parliament to restrict abortion availability, making parental permission once again obligatory for 16- and 17-year-olds who are seeking abortions.
The Senate vote late Wednesday was 145-89 with five abstentions.
The government last September scrapped a much-criticized plan to roll back the Socialists' 2010 abortion law, which allows for abortion without restrictions in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. It said at the time that there was no consensus for the change.
But it pledged to seek to restore the parental permission obligation for 16- and 17-year-olds.
Three Popular Party lawmakers defected and voted against parental permission for teens seeking abortion.
