Opinion No. 4/87, 14 November 1987.
This opinion concerns the prosecution of a woman who had obtained an abortion after claiming that her husband had raped her.  Spanish law provides for the possibility of obtaining an abortion after rape as long as fewer than 12 weeks of pregnancy have passed, and the abortion is reported to the police.  Although both of these requirements had been met in this case, there was some question whether a rape had actually occurred since prosecution of the husband on the charge of rape was dropped due to lack of evidence.  The General State Prosecutor concluded that the abortion was legally performed because 1) the rape had been reported and a criminal proceeding had been initiated; and 2) a fact constitutive of the crime of rape existed even though certain elements of the crime had not been established.  The prosecutor stated that only a judicial sentence declaring the nonexistence of the crime or a dismissal based on the absence of facts constitutive of the crime would be sufficient to initiate criminal proceedings against the party responsible for the abortion based on the allegation that the rape had not occurred.
D000028:Abortion, Induced; D000029:Abortion, Legal; D003415:Crime; D019049:Developed Countries; D005060:Europe; D005193:Family Planning Services; D007603:Jurisprudence; D011902:Rape; D012940:Social Problems; D013030:Spain
Abortion, Induced--legal aspects; Abortion, Legal; Court Decision; Crime; Developed Countries; Europe; Family Planning; Fertility Control, Postconception; Mediterranean Countries; Rape; Social Problems; Southern Europe; Spain