SW News: Spain's new reform package, which includes abortion along with other measures that are contrary to the Catholic faith, has been condemned by the Spanish branch of 40 Days for Life. In an effort to put a stop to abortion, the group has asked the faithful to fast and pray during this Lenten season.

In a statement against abortion, the group said, "We will pray, as usual, calmly and quietly, following our prayer shifts with fasting," and they asked, "all Christians, religious men and women, and the bishops to help us in this war." The Lenten campaign for 40 Days for Life will officially begin on Ash Wednesday, February 22, at 21 venues around Spain.

Meanwhile, the Popular Party's bid to outlaw abortions before the 14th week of pregnancy was rejected by the Spanish Constitutional Court last Thursday, and the 2010 legislation that was recently broadened by the new abortion law was a big setback to pro-lifers in the once-Catholic country.

This legislation, emphasizes Alicia Latorre, head of the Spanish Federation of Pro-Life Organizations, "not only legitimizes the killing of innocents but also deprives mothers of information and aid."

Latorre laments that despite the fact that abortion has been legal in Spain for more than 40 years, "instead of seeing how horrible it is and how dreadful the business and ideology that sustain it, Spain falls headlong into the abyss of self-destruction."

Meanwhile, the president of the Organization of Researchers and Professionals for Life (CiViCa) and former member of the Spanish Bioethics Committee, Nicolás Jouve de la Barreda, called this bill and the euthanasia statute "cheat laws" since they hide the truth, are founded on lies, and contradict society's values.

Jouve further notes that the Spanish abortion laws "contravene the Spanish Constitution, whatever the revised TC states, by claiming that the unborn have no right to life, even though the unborn child is legally protected by Article 15 of the Magna Carta."

The legislature also enhanced the rights of transgender individuals on Thursday by approving a new set of legislation. In Spain, anyone over 16 has the legal right to alter their gender without a doctor's approval. For minors between the ages of 12 and 13, a judge's permission is required, and for those between the ages of 14 and 16, their parents or other legal guardians must accompany them.

The second legislation forbids "conversion therapy" for LGBTQ individuals and provides financial assistance to lesbians and single women seeking IVF.

Another of Montero's key ideas, a new sexual consent law that was meant to make rape victims safer but instead let hundreds of sex offenders have their jail terms lowered, is drawing criticism from the center-left coalition administration.