Spain has advanced legislation that could send parents to prison for up to two years if they refuse to allow their children to undergo “gender-affirming” treatments.
The controversial amendment to Spain’s Penal Code, approved by the Congress of Deputies, would also punish doctors, psychologists, and educators who decline to facilitate gender “transitions” in minors.
The treatments include giving powerful chemical castration drugs to minors and surgically removing or altering children’s genitals.
Conservative lawmakers and medical professionals have condemned the measure, warning it criminalizes common-sense parenting and undermines parental rights.
The law extends sanctions to parents or guardians who “promote, consent to, or facilitate” any form of conversion therapy, even in cases where families want to delay or prevent irreversible medical procedures without adequate psychological support.
Critics argue that the legislation places Spain among the most radical countries in Europe on gender ideology.
Meanwhile, nations like Sweden and the UK have moved to slow down minors’ access to harmful transgender medical interventions.
Scotland’s Push For Extreme Measures
Scotland has likewise pursued radical gender laws.
In January 2024, the Scottish government proposed legislation that would have criminalized parents who discouraged their children from changing gender, with penalties of up to seven years in prison.
The law sought to ban so-called “conversion therapy,” citing surveys that pointed to family, religious, and community influence.
Parents who refused to affirm their child’s new gender identity risked imprisonment and court-ordered restrictions on free speech through “civil protection orders.”
The proposals sparked backlash, with critics warning they would devastate free expression, privacy, and family life.
Fearing legal challenges, the Scottish government ultimately shelved the legislation in September 2024 and agreed to defer to the UK government on the issue.
Still, Scottish National Party (SNP) leaders have threatened to introduce their own bill in the next parliamentary session if Westminster legislation does not go “far enough.”
Ongoing Battles Over Gender Ideology
The Scottish government’s determination to push gender policies has collided repeatedly with UK authorities.
In 2023, Westminster blocked then-First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s attempt to allow children as young as 16 to legally change gender.
Earlier this year, the UK Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling that the definition of “woman” in the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological females only, excluding self-identified transgender “women.”
Yet the Scottish government was slow to comply, prompting threats of legal action from Sex Matters, a gender-critical campaign group.
By June, facing pressure, Scottish officials updated guidance on the gender balance of public boards, the policy at the center of the Supreme Court fight.
The Bigger Picture
Spain’s move to jail parents and Scotland’s persistence in advancing radical proposals underscore a broader struggle across Europe over parental rights, free speech, and the definition of biological sex.
While UK courts and some European countries have reined in transgender medical interventions for minors, progressive governments continue to push measures critics describe as authoritarian and anti-family.
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