Overview
- Macron, visiting Andorra as co-prince Tuesday, urged leaders to let the debate on decriminalising abortion move forward.
- Prime Minister Xavier Espot, who said in late March he aims to end criminal penalties within about a year without legalising the procedure, called it a social demand and said any step must respect the co‑prince system with the Bishop of Urgell.
- Andorra still bans abortion in all cases and sets six months in jail for a woman and three years plus a five-year medical ban for a provider, with no prosecutions recorded and even giving information to go abroad treated as a crime.
- The feminist group Acció Feminista d’Andorra warned that a narrow change would be symbolic and urged full legalisation with local, free, confidential care, noting that an average of 131 residents a year travel to Spain for abortions.
- Macron also pressed Andorra to back an EU association deal that EU institutions plan to sign before summer, which would still require approval in an Andorran referendum.