Barcelona clinic forged papers on illegal abortions 12/03/2008 00:00

Abortion clinics in Barcelona carried out abortions on foetuses up to 30 weeks old and forged paperwork in an attempt to conceal their actions, court documents show.

12 March 2008

BARCELONA - Abortion clinics in Barcelona operated by the Ginemedex-TCB chain, whose owner, Carlos Morín, was arrested last year, carried out abortions on foetuses up to 30 weeks old and forged paperwork in an attempt to conceal their actions, court documents show.

The papers, made public last week by investigating Judge Elisabet Castelló, indicate that Morín and his staff repeatedly broke Spain's abortion law in order to carry out abortions on women in late stages of pregnancy. After 22 weeks of gestation, abortion is only legal in Spain if the mother's life is at risk.

Paperwork seized from the Ginemedex-TCB clinics suggest that psychiatrists employed by the firm falsely claimed that mothers' lives were in danger in order to justify abortions. In other instances investigators were told by protected witnesses that blenders were used to eliminate the bodies of foetuses in order to avoid suspicion.

The Ginemedex-TCB clinics carried out 2,780 abortions last year of which 97 percent were performed ostensibly to avoid exposing the mother to health risks.

[Copyright El Pais / PERE RÍOS 2008]