From the “Basauri Affair” to Spain’s Abortion Law: Print Journalism and the Debate on Women’s Reproductive Rights During Spain’s Transition to Democracy

Abstract The present article explores the centrality of gender within the context of Spain’s transition to democracy from a specific perspective: the debate regarding women’s reproductive rights, as this debate was shaped in print journalism. The article’s starting point is 1975, during which the International Women’s Year (launched by the UN) coincided with the dictator’s death. Its end point is July 5, 1985, when the partial legalization of abortions was finally approved by the Spanish parliament. The article analyzes the ways in which new political and media actors shaped the discourse on women’s reproductive rights while adapting themselves to the changing conditions in their professional field. It asks how did the evolution of the media landscape during Spain’s transition to democracy impacted the debate on women’s reproductive rights? Who could shape and access the public debate on this issue and via what type of publications? In a field that was polarized politically, can one identify actors and discourses that had a clear gendered perspective, and if so, how did they relate to the debate taking place within Spain’s feminist movement? Finally, could the debate of women’s reproductive rights be viewed as signifiers of more general political dispositions during the Transition?