Andorra’s PM vows abortion will be decriminalized despite Vatican pushback

(LifeSiteNews) — Andorran Prime Minister Xavier Espot struck a defiant tone this week in announcing that the country will decriminalize abortion next year “whether the Holy See likes it or not.”

As previously covered by LifeSiteNews, Institutional Relations, Education, and Universities minister Ladislau Baró confirmed in June that there was a “complete legislative proposal” to decriminalize abortion in the principality but would not move forward until talks with the Vatican were concluded.

At issue is Andorra’s status as a parliamentary diarchy in which the government led by a Parliamentary-elected prime minister, but the heads of state are two co-princes: the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, and the bishop of La Seu d’Urgell, Josep-Lluís Serrano Pentinat. On top of the moral and policy implications, changes to abortion laws would have ramifications for the institutional stability of the arrangement.

However, in September 8 remarks reported by The Pillar, Espot indicated that while talks continue, his mind and objective are already made up.

“What the government must gain as a result of this dialogue is the deep conviction that whatever we do, whether the Holy See likes it or not will not jeopardize our institutional system,” he said, adding that talks would proceed “with our sights set on the upcoming parliamentary session and, therefore, with the assurance that we can pass legislation to decriminalize abortion.”

Officials hope to pass the measure, which has not been released, by April, though there is speculation that it could keep abortions illegal while simply limiting prosecution to physicians, leaving the women who seek them immune.

Abortion is currently illegal in all cases in the predominantly-Catholic country.