Agata Ignaciuk on “Hoy por Hoy”: 40 Years of the Abortion Law in Spain Photo

On May 14, 2025, the programme “Hoy por Hoy” on Cadena SER dedicated a special episode to the 40th anniversary of the 1985 abortion law, which partially decriminalised voluntary termination of pregnancy in Spain.

Among the guest voices, historian Agata Ignaciuk stood out. She is a researcher specialising in the history of sexual and reproductive rights and health, as well as gender history in Spain and Poland.

Throughout the episode, Ignaciuk offered a rigorous and accessible analysis of the social, medical, and political context surrounding the approval of this law, and its limited impact on the lives of thousands of women in the Spanish state.

As the programme highlighted, the law only legalised abortion in three cases — rape, fetal malformation, and risk to the pregnant woman’s health — leaving out the vast majority of women, who continued to be forced to have abortions in secrecy or to travel abroad if they could afford it.

Her contribution placed these restrictions within the broader framework of institutional violence and the medicalisation of women’s bodies, and helped bring visibility to the feminist struggles that pushed for legal change, as well as to the ongoing resistance.

The episode also features testimonies by Consuelo Catalá, Llum Quiñonero, and Enrique Lebrero.

🎧 You can listen to the full episode here.