The French senator from the Les Écologistes party, Mélanie Vogel, and Compromís have held a joint event in Valencia to demand the shielding of the right to abortion. Vogel is known for being one of the main promoters and the legislative architect of the milestone that made France the first country in the world to incorporate this right into its Constitution.
The meeting, held in the Russafa neighborhood, served to address the current threats facing women's sexual and reproductive rights and to expose "the serious deficiencies of the Valencian public health system due to the high percentage of professionals who invoke conscientious objection, a situation that has as direct consequences the non-performance of these procedures in public centers," reports the Valencian coalition.
In her speech, the senator recounted how the "feminist victory" of enshrining the right to abortion in the French Constitution was articulated in the face of the advance of the far-right and reactionary currents that endanger women's freedoms in Europe and the rest of the planet.
Vogel emphasized that providing legal and constitutional protection to this right is the only way to ensure that no government can backtrack on women's autonomy over their own bodies.
The deputies of Compromís in Les Corts, Paula Espinosa and Mónica Àlvaro, also spoke at the event, bringing the debate to the Valencian reality and denouncing the institutional barriers that women continue to encounter when trying to exercise this right in public healthcare.
The coalition warns of the "critical" situation in numerous health departments in the Valencian Community, "where practically no abortions are performed in public centers, with these procedures being outsourced to the private sector in 90% of cases, leaving women without the guarantees of public healthcare."
Compromís insists that "the Ministry of Health must ensure the well-being of its citizens and cannot rely on agreements with private clinics to evade its legal obligation to provide the service": "It is more a matter of political will, that of the Popular Party not wanting to provide the service, than a real impediment."
The meeting is part of the support for the candidacy of Les Écologistes within the campaign for the local consular elections, with voting open until May 31, in which French residents abroad can participate.