Life

Spain's new justice minister says he will reform the country's abortion law to make parental permission obligatory for 16- and 17-year-olds looking to end pregnancies.

The former Socialist government updated a 1985 law in 2010 to allow abortions without restrictions in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy and for 16- and 17-year-olds to have the operation without their parents' permission.

Minister Alberto Ruiz Gallardon made the announcement Wednesday in Parliament but gave no details of other potential changes to the legislation or when the reform would be presented.

His right-leaning Popular Party opposed the Socialist reform and pledged in its election campaign last year to amend the bill if elected. The party won a landslide victory in elections Nov. 20.