 "Tren de la libertad" in Valladolid | |
| Native name | El tren de la libertad |
|---|---|
| English name | the freedom train |
| Date | February 1, 2014 |
| Location | Madrid |
El tren de la libertad (The Freedom Train in English) is a movement in defense of the sexual and reproductive rights of women. In late 2013, the conservative-led Spanish government proposed dramatically restricting access to abortion in the country. [1] [2] [3] [4]
In 2010, the socialist government led by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero reformed the Law of Abortion originally passed by the Congress of Deputies on December 19, 2009, [5] which decriminalized abortion during the first fourteen weeks. The law was passed on July 5, 2010, replacing the Ley Orgánica 9/1985. The conservative Partido Popular filed an appeal with the Supreme Court in June 2010, and included the modification of the law as part of their 2011 electoral platform.
On February 1, 2014, the group hosted a massive demonstration in Madrid calling for the withdrawal of the preliminary draft of the abortion law presented by Justice Minister Alberto Ruíz Gallardón and demanding his resignation, as well as defending the existing law, which had been in use since 2010. [6] The protest was an initiative that emerged in Asturias from the Feminist Tertulia Les Comadres and the organization Women for Equality of Barredos. It was joined by numerous women's organizations, feminist organizations, and entities involved in the fight for sexual and reproductive rights throughout Spain, which chartered trains and buses to bring participants to the central event of the Madrid Summit. The event was also supported by opposition parties and unions. [7] The demonstration began at Paseo del Prado and traveled all the way to the Congress of Deputies, where a group of feminist representatives presented the manifesto "Because I decide" [8] [9] — written by Alicia Miyares, a respected philosopher and feminist writer,[ citation needed ] and detailing the demands of the marchers - to the Registration of the Congress in the name of the President of the Government, the Congress, the Minister of Health, Ana Mato, and the Minister of Justice, Alberto Ruiz Gallardón. [10] [11] [8]
Tens of thousands of people participated in the mobilization of the Freedom Train. At the time it was considered the largest feminist protest in the history of Spain, a distinction it held until 2015. [12] [13] [14]
Supporters of the effort also staged demonstrations in several European capitals (Edinburgh, Rome, Paris, Luxembourg) and Latin American (Buenos Aires). [15] [16] [17]
The protest's growth and development was recorded in the documentary es:Yo decido. El tren de la libertad [18] [19] [20] (in English: My Choice. The Freedom Train [21] [22] ,I Decide: The Train of Freedom,Because it's my choice. The Freedom Train). [23] [24] [25] Over 80 filmmakers and professionals from the audiovisual world participated in the project, [26] [27] including Gracia Querejeta, Ángeles González-Sinde, Mabel Lozano, Icíar Bollaín, Isabel Coixet, Georgina Cisquella and Virginia Yagüe. [28] [29] [30]
As a consequence of The Freedom Train movement, the Spanish government had to abandon plans to tighten abortion law, ending months of speculation and prompting Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, the justice minister and architect of the abortion proposal, to resign, charged with enacting some of the toughest legislation on the issue in Europe. [31] [32] [33] [34]
"Because it's my choice" ("Porque yo decido" in Spanish) is a text written by feminist philosopher Alicia Miyares, given to Congress and dedicated to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, Minister of Justice Alberto Ruiz Gallardón, as well as Minister of Health Ana Mato. [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40]
The route of the march was from Asturias to Madrid, and the people joined it from different Spain cities: Andalucia, Canarias, Catalonia, Valencian Community, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, Galicia, Murcia and Pais Vasco. [41] In the afternoon, they organized an assembly, where different delegation representatives attended the movement.
Several Europeans cities joined the march, including Paris, Rome, London, Luxembourg and Edinburgh. In Latin America, the participation of Buenos Aires was important.
El Mundo, before El Mundo del Siglo Veintiuno, is the second largest printed daily newspaper in Spain. The paper is considered one of the country's newspapers of record along with El País and ABC.
Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón Jiménez is a Spanish politician and former Minister of Justice. He was mayor of Madrid between 2003 and 2011. A stalwart of the conservative People's Party (PP), he has previously been a leading figure in various local and national legislative bodies. In December 2011 Ruiz-Gallardón was appointed Minister of Justice in Mariano Rajoy's inaugural cabinet. He resigned in September 2014.
Abortion in Argentina is legal as an elective medical procedure during the first 14 weeks from conception. The abortion law was liberalized when the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Bill was passed by the National Congress in December 2020. According to the law, any woman can request the procedure at any public or private health facility. Doctors are legally bound to either perform it or, if they are conscientious objectors, refer the patient to another physician or health facility. Only three other Latin or South American countries legalised abortion on request nationwide before Argentina did: Cuba in 1965, Guyana in 1995, and Uruguay in 2012. According to polling in 2020, around 44% of Argentines support the legalization of abortion on request; other polls showed 50–60% of Argentines opposed the bill.
In Mexico, abortion on request is legal at the federal level during the first twelve weeks of a pregnancy. Elective abortion is being gradually legalized at the state level due to rulings by the Supreme Court, and in the meantime is available in all states.
Abortion in Spain is legal upon request up to 14 weeks of pregnancy, and at later stages in cases of risk to the life or health of the woman or serious fetal defects.
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Marta Lamas Encabo is a Mexican anthropologist and political science professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and lecturer at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM). She is one of Mexico's leading feminists and has written many books aimed at reducing discrimination by opening public discourse on feminism, gender, prostitution and abortion. Since 1990, Lamas has edited one of Latin America's most important feminist journals, Debate Feminista. In 2005, she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
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The premiership of Mariano Rajoy over Spain spanned from 2011 to 2018.
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Alicia Miyares Fernández is a Spanish philosopher, feminist, researcher, and women's rights activists. She has served as the spokesperson for several feminist organizations including anti-womb renting No Somos Vasijas and Recav. She has been involved with the efforts to keep abortion legal, writing the manifesto for the 2014 Tren de la Libertad. Miyares Fernández was active in advocating feminist causes ahead of the 2019 Spanish general elections.
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