Andorra Feminists March for Abortion Rights on Women's Day

Between 200 and 300 people took part in a march organized by Acció Feminista on International Women's Day, starting from Plaça de la Rotonda in Andorra la Vella, proceeding through Avinguda Meritxell and Carlemany, and ending at Plaça Coprínceps in Escaldes-Engordany. The demonstration centered on calls to decriminalize abortion, alongside concerns over a 22% gender pay gap and increasing cases of gender violence managed by support services.

Acció Feminista president Laia Ferré addressed participants before the march, warning of a global rollback in women's rights that demands street action. She stressed Andorra's full ban on voluntary terminations, which criminalizes both women and healthcare providers, leaving those in need without local referrals and forcing them to travel abroad amid financial, logistical, and emotional burdens. Ferré highlighted recent legislative setbacks, with promised reforms removed from agendas amid Vatican resistance, including statements from Pope Leo XIV. Activists made former Episcopal Co-Prince Joan Enric Vives an "honorary member," invoking his past comments that a single co-prince's approval could enable progress. She also criticized Andorran representatives, such as ambassador Ferran Costa's recent UN remarks in Geneva equating abortions to routine overseas treatments, as misleading since penalties prevent any domestic guidance.

The event featured chants including "My body, my decision," "Fora rosaris dels nostres ovaris," and "Xavier Espot, Andorra sí que pot," a five-minute sit-in to symbolize years of delay, and a batucada drum group. A manifesto read at the end decried the ban as institutional violence and a denial of dignity, freedom, and democracy.

Stop Violències criticized government events—such as theatrical stories on beauty standards and childcare roundtables—as superficial attempts to obscure realities like women's poverty risks, particularly among retirees, where 54.6% of 2025 solidarity pension applicants were female. The group highlighted free dismissal policies, Andorra's non-membership in the International Labour Organization, lack of healthcare for sub-minimum wage workers unless as dependents, and reconciliation challenges in a 24/7 tourism economy, including reports of workers at businesses tied to officials being sent home for not appearing "presentable." Since 2015, it has demanded social impact studies on resident and seasonal female workers, plus ratification of international labor treaties.

Amnesty International's French branch began a campaign this week under the banner "Abortion in Europe: 7 reasons to keep mobilizing," naming Andorra as Europe's only country with a total ban on voluntary abortions. It called for documenting barriers, pressuring governments for legalization, and challenging laws that deny bodily autonomy, while noting uneven progress amid persistent restrictions elsewhere, such as short deadlines or conscientious objection.

Associació de Dones d'Andorra (ADA) and Acció Feminista welcomed parliament's move to accelerate equal birth leave over four years rather than eight, increasing fathers' quotas from four to 20 weeks by 2030. ADA's Patty Bafino tied this to Andorra's sharp birth rate decline and childcare shortages, questioning the absence of political debate on shared parenting despite budget limits. Acció Feminista's Elisabet Royuela called it vital for true equality, allowing fathers to share maternity's weight and engage in child-rearing.

Executives at Institut Andorrà de les Dones, Bafino and Royuela surveyed past gains from a conservative era: effective equality legislation, nationality parity, family courts, and tubal ligation decriminalization. Abortion remains the key fight, with institutional deadlock, foreign referrals seen as hypocritical under penalties, and aspirations for free access though decriminalization alone would be progress. Persistent issues include pay gaps, glass ceilings, economic and vicarious violence trapping single mothers, and restrictive gender violence indemnities requiring three months' sick leave and 33% physical impairment. They urged education against disinformation framing feminism as anti-male, insisting women—as half the population—require public mobilization to protect advances.

Political attendees included Andorra la Vella's cònsol menor Olalla Losada, Concòrdia conselleres generals Cerni Escalé and Núria Segués, Partit Socialdemòcrata's Susanna Vela, Laia Moliné, and Pere Baró, plus councillors Marc Torrent, Xavier Surana, Ramon Tena, and Susagna Mosquera.