Anti-abortion mass rally in Madrid

More than 100,000 people are expected in Madrid, Spain, tomorrow at the first of a number of rallies to protest plans by the Spanish government to liberalise the abortion law, organisers said.

"We are expecting more than 100,000 people, and hoping for between 150,000 and 200,000," said Victor Gago, spokesman for the anti-abortion organisation HazteOir (Make Yourself Heard).

He said T-shirts and caps would be distributed during the protest in central Madrid, with the €100,000-cost of the rally being covered by private donations.

Another group, Provida, said it would be the first of a number of big demonstrations against plans by the Socialist government to offer greater legal protection for women who wish to have an abortion and doctors who carry out the procedure.

Spain decriminalised abortion in 1985 but only for certain cases: Up to 12 weeks of pregnancy after a rape; up to 22 weeks in the case of malformation of the foetus; and at any point if the pregnancy represents a threat to the physical or mental health of the woman.

The majority of abortions in Spain take place in private clinics and are justified on the grounds that the pregnancy posed a "psychological risk" for the health of the woman.