In 2018, the very anti-abortion Christian Lawyers Association in Spain took a case against ACAI, the Association of Accredited Abortion Clinics, and Blanca Cañedo, ACAI representative in Asturias,
seeking compensation because they claimed their good name had been dishonoured in an interview in the newspaper La Voz de Asturias.
The Supreme Court, hearing the second appeal in this case, ruled that the honour of the plaintiffs had not been violated, however. On the contrary, they ruled that “the appeal must be dismissed because, in a context of confrontation and in the framework of an extensive interview, the defendant’s statements were not intense enough to consider that they constituted interference in the honour of a legal person. Hence, the freedom of expression of ACAI must prevail.”
In the first instance, the Court of Valladolid had ruled in favour of the Christian Lawyers. However, in a subsequent ruling, the Provincial Court reversed the original ruling, which was then appealed once more by the plaintiffs before the Supreme Court. That Court’s ruling closed the judicial process. The Supreme Court imposed the costs of the appeal and loss of the deposit on the lawyers’ group, as well as payment of the costs of previous hearings.
José Antonio Bosch, who represented ACAI, said: “It is very difficult to address the issue of abortion, given the moral and religious burden that each person bears as a result of their education and beliefs. At times, we have suffered the prejudices of certain judges whose decisions on abortion issues have been influenced more by their personal beliefs and morals than by the law itself. On this occasion, we have to congratulate the Supreme Court, who have withdrawn from any moral or religious burden to rigorously apply the law.”
SOURCE: ACAI Press release, 2 December 2020 (en español)