This Wednesday, the Constitutional Court flatly rejected the request made against its President Cándido Conde-Pumpido and against the judges Juan Carlos Campo and Inmaculada Montalbán to intervene in the deliberation and sentencing of the 2010 appeal against the abortion law. The three defendants belong to the progressive majority of the court. Judge Concepción Espejel from the conservative faction of the Guarantee Board has spoken out against this decision and has announced that a counter-vote will be presented to explain the reasons for her discrepancy.
Espejel, who was also contested, wanted to abstain from taking part in the decision on the abortion law, but was prevented from doing so by resolution of the constitutional plenum, in which it considered that there were no reasons for her to stay away from the debate about it. . The court considered that this judge criticized the regulation contained in the above-mentioned law on voluntary abortion, but did so as a contribution to a report that the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) was preparing, a text published during the drafting of what was to be the 2010 new abortion rights bill was never approved or sent to the government.
The recusal of the other three judges was again dismissed because the court found that the five former PP MPs who requested the recusal were not entitled to initiate the case. The Constitutional Court is of the opinion that the legitimacy to challenge the abortion law in this case would only belong “to the group of 50 or more MPs who lodged the constitutional complaint”.
The court understands that the five popular ex-MPs who brought the challenge, on the other hand, “did not act on behalf of the aforementioned ’50 or more MPs'” who appealed the law. The full text of the resolution will be announced in the coming days. In the debate before the resolution of this matter, the idea of affirming the constitutional doctrine was also discussed in the sense that the challenges in defense of the work of the court itself are flatly rejected when it considers that this should be prevented by the presentation of Challenges based on questioning the impartiality of its members, with no quorum. But eventually it was deemed unnecessary to add arguments that might stir up new controversy when there was reason to flatly refuse to allow the challenges.
After deciding that Espejel should remain in deliberation and that the lawsuit against Judges Conde-Pumpido, the President of the Court, Montalbán and Campo was dismissed, the court this Wednesday began debating the draft judgment of the sector prepared by the judge Conservative Enrique Arnaldo. The Constitutional Court reported that deliberations “are intense given the complexity of the matter”. Arnaldo made a lengthy presentation focused on approving the Deadline Act, but with objections to the formula used to inform the pregnant woman of the procedure she is about to undergo and its alternatives. He also addressed the extension of the right to conscientious objection to all professionals participating in the voluntary abortion process, not just medical personnel.
This Thursday, the constitutional plenary session continues, where judges Ricardo Enríquez, María Luisa Balaguer, Inmaculada Montalbán and the President, Cándido Conde-Pumpido, will intervene. The progressive majority favors full support for the abortion law and therefore intends to reject Arnaldo’s presentation if it upholds the proposal to declare article 17.5 of the current law unconstitutional. This requirement regulates how the pregnant woman must be informed in writing in a sealed envelope if, in the opinion of the rapporteur, this system is not sufficient and oral information should also be given. There is also disagreement about the limits of conscientious objection, although the speaker does not propose that this point be declared unconstitutional. The draft judgment proposes that it be interpreted as constitutional as long as the court clarifies that conscientious objection is not strictly limited to health workers.
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