Some of us were wrong to describe the Popular Party as 'cowardly right-wing'

It's only fair to acknowledge mistakes, and today I want to acknowledge one that I've made a few times when talking about the Popular Party (PP).

Feijóo reaffirms his intention to unprotect the lives of the unborn, just like Sánchez
PP and PSOE reject a Vox initiative to repeal abortion and euthanasia laws

At times, just as other Spaniards have done (but that others have done it doesn't excuse me), I have called the PP "cowardly," "lukewarm," or "self-conscious" because I believed it wasn't brave or clear enough when it came to waging the battle of ideas against the left. I admit it: I was wrong. The PP is neither cowardly, nor lukewarm, nor self-conscious.

On September 30, Vox presented an initiative to Madrid City Council to include post-abortion syndrome in the information provided to mothers when they decide to get rid of their unborn babies. Curiously, the Popular Party supported this initiative, contradicting the pro-abortion position maintained by that party at the official level. Yesterday, less than a month after that vote, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, mayor of Madrid (from the PP), stated that they were wrong to support Vox's proposal.

On the same day, the PP municipal group at Madrid City Council backed Martínez-Almeida's statement, stating: "The common objective of this plenary session should be that women can choose freely." By "choose freely," the PP means that they can choose to kill their unborn children or not. What kind of "freedom" is this that consists of ending the life of an innocent and defenseless human being?

Let us remember that only four months ago the PP declared itself defending "Christian humanism" and "the dignity of human life", adding: "We must defend life. We defend the dignity of all human life and the need to guarantee the necessary care to those who need it most until their last breath. We always choose the culture of a dignified life" These statements clash head-on with the statement by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, president of the PP, calling abortion a "right" and assuming the cruel and inhumane abortion law approved by the socialists in 2010, an aberrant law that qualifies the act of killing unborn babies as a "right".

As I said above, this is not cowardice, nor lukewarmness, nor complexes. A coward is someone who doesn't dare to defend their principles for fear of being pointed out by their rivals. The PP is not a "cowardly right": it is a political scam, and I refer to the second definition that the Royal Spanish Academy indicates of the verb to scam: "To deceive someone with promises or hopes". It has already been made very clear that the PP is not a pro-life party nor a defender of Christian humanism: it only uses these claims as bait to capture votes and then implement policies openly contrary to the principles it claims to defend. That is not cowardice: it is a huge deception.

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Photo: Partido Popular.