Pregnant Woman Denied Hospital Abortion in Valladolid, Forced to Seek Private Clinic

Silvia’s pregnancy became complicated early, and by the twentieth week medical reports classified the fetus as non-viable due to multiple malformations. When she asked for an abortion at Hospital Universitario Río Hortega in Valladolid, doctors told her that because the fetus still showed a heartbeat they had to refer her to a private clinic, invoking conscientious objection that blocks abortions in the city’s public hospitals.

The 2023 abortion law requires public health to guarantee the service but allows it to be performed in private facilities, a loophole that left her with limited options and a risky private-clinic experience. After a week of waiting for the heartbeat to stop and suffering bleeding, she was sent home from the public emergency department. Through personal contacts she eventually found a public hospital in another province of Castilla y León willing to perform the procedure. The episode has spurred the PSOE of Castilla y León to file a proposal demanding that the regional government ensure abortion services are available in Valladolid’s public hospitals, while the lack of a conscientious-objection registry in the region underscores systemic barriers.