Andorra’s abortion decriminalisation is more symbolic than effective

The Andorran Women’s Association (ADA) has welcomed the Government’s approval of an amendment to the Criminal Code that would stop treating women who have abortions as criminals.

However, the association warns that the reform does not address the underlying problem: abortion will still not be available in Andorra with medical safeguards, healthcare professionals who provide it will remain exposed to criminal liability, and women will still have to travel abroad.

“It is a necessary first step, and we value it as such,” the ADA said. The association acknowledged that the Government is delivering on a commitment made during its term and advancing a historic reform after years of feminist campaigning and international recommendations. But it cautioned: “This step does not solve the problem of access.”

The gap between removing penalties for women and guaranteeing access to abortion is at the heart of the criticism directed at the proposal.

Feminist organisations, healthcare professionals and members of the public argue that, if doctors remain at risk of criminal penalties and there is no public coverage for care abroad, the change will have mainly symbolic effect.

Some critics have even described the reform as a public-relations exercise: a way to present political progress without changing the conditions that force women to leave the country.

“Basically, they have done nothing”

Members of the public have also questioned the reform’s legal consistency. One criticism points to a contradiction between the constitutional protection of human dignity and physical and moral integrity, and the use of that same constitutional framework as a reason not to recognise those rights.

Another comment described the measure as “propaganda” and said it “does not solve the problem”: women will be able to have abortions as before, but if they do so in Andorra, the professionals who assist them will still face possible prison sentences and disqualification from practising for up to five years. “Basically, they have done nothing,” the comment concluded.

The announcement by Ladislau Baró that the proposal would be presented to the General Council in November 2025 ended the discretion surrounding talks with the Vatican and contributed to the shelving of a broader decriminalisation proposal.

Now, at a particularly difficult moment for Demòcrates, some see the reform as a political victory for the minister, whom they consider a possible candidate for the party.

Women will no longer face criminal liability, but access will remain unchanged

The amendment approved by the Government concerns Article 117 of the Criminal Code and removes criminal liability from women who choose to terminate a pregnancy.

The proposal, however, keeps abortion a criminal offence for healthcare professionals who perform it in Andorra. It therefore does not create a route for women to access abortion care in the country.

Nor does it provide for the CASS to cover abortions performed abroad. Women who decide to have an abortion will still have to pay for travel and the procedure themselves, with access shaped by their financial resources and personal circumstances.

The ADA warns that this situation perpetuates “costs and inequalities”. It is calling for women to be able to exercise their sexual and reproductive rights with medical safeguards in Andorra.

The figures help illustrate a reality that the reform, as currently drafted, will not change: in 2025, 146 women living in Andorra had abortions in Catalonia.

In addition, as magistrate Mignorance acknowledged before international courts, no woman had ever been prosecuted or convicted for having an abortion. Critics are therefore asking what will actually change for women beyond their removal from the Criminal Code.

A broader initial agreement did not make it into the final proposal

According to information obtained by La Veu Lliure, the Government and the Vatican have been negotiating abortion decriminalisation since 2019. During the pontificate of Pope Francis, the Holy See is understood to have approved a proposal broader than the one now being advanced.

That proposed hybrid model would also have decriminalised healthcare professionals and provided for the CASS to cover the cost of abortions carried out outside Andorra.

The discretion surrounding the talks ended when it was announced that the bill would be introduced in the General Council in November 2025.

That announcement by Ladislau Baró halted the negotiations. After Francis’s death and the arrival of Leo XIV, the broader proposal stalled.

Following further meetings this year between the Government and Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, the final outcome has been more limited: women will no longer face criminal liability, but doctors will remain subject to the Criminal Code, and the CASS will not, for now, cover abortions abroad.

“Let this reform be the beginning of a journey”

The ADA considers the change necessary, but says it should not be presented as an endpoint. The association wants the reform to be “the beginning of a journey” towards the effective exercise of sexual and reproductive rights and safe healthcare within the country.

The criticism shared by feminist organisations, healthcare professionals and members of the public is that decriminalising abortion for women is not the same as guaranteeing access to it.

As long as healthcare professionals can be prosecuted and women have to travel abroad, the reform will change their criminal liability but not the practical options available when they need an abortion. That is why critics describe it as abortion decriminalisation that is more symbolic than effective.

In Andorra, laws passed by the General Council are submitted to both Co-Princes for sanction and promulgation. The Constitution provides, however, that if one Co-Prince is unable to formalise the act within the prescribed period, the law may enter into force with the signature of the other.

Joan-Enric Vives, the former Episcopal Co-Prince, did not sign certain particularly sensitive laws, including the 2019 law on assisted human reproduction, which was promulgated with the signature of the French Co-Prince. It remains to be seen what decision Josep-Lluís Serrano Pentinat will take on the abortion reform.