The Spanish Senate’s Equality Commission approved an amendment to the country’s abortion law. This will prevent certain regions from adopting pro-life policies that could encourage women to have abortions.

The Spanish Senate committee approved new amendments that aim to forbid regions from enacting policies that discourage or delay a woman’s desire to have an abortion. They were supported by the People’s Party, which is supposedly centre-right.

This is after the populist VOX party from the region of Castille & Leon tried to implement pro-life policy which included the option, but not the obligation, for pregnant women to listen and record the heartbeat of their unborn child, El Mundo reports.

The amendment states that “competent public authorities” must not interfere with the procurement of abortions. They also have to “prevent the applicant being the recipient practices that seek to alter or delay the formation of her will on the interrupt or not of pregnancy, the communication and implementation of it, except for essential and relevant clinical information.”

The amendment states that “Diagnostic or therapeutic interventions related to the practice and decision of terminating a pregnancy should in all cases be based on scientific evidence.”

Since May last year, Spain’s Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), the ruling leftist party in Spain, and its leftist allies Podemos, have worked to lower abortion barriers. This includes allowing minors aged 16 and older to request abortions without parental consent.

Irene Montero, Spanish Minister of Equality, insisted that “just as they are responsible to work or have sex they are also responsible for deciding about the health of their bodies.”

She said, “We cannot accept that young females are left out who find tinkering with their families difficult”

Spain also bans protests at abortion clinics, if they are perceived to be irritating those seeking abortion. Violators could face a year imprisonment.