The Community of Madrid will allow unborn children to count as members of the family unit for the purpose of obtaining the large family title from the 12th week of pregnancy, according to what has been announced by the regional Executive presided over by Isabel Díaz Ayuso.
The initiative, which will be processed in the coming weeks, will allow to advance access to benefits such as economic aid, tax bonuses or advantages in public services, by counting the conceived before their birth. The regional Government frames the measure within its policy of support for birth rates.
However, the decision comes in a context marked by the legal debate on some actions of the Madrid Executive regarding reproductive rights. Recently, the High Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) has forced the Community to create a register of conscientious objector doctors for the voluntary interruption of pregnancy, after considering that its absence constituted a breach of current legislation.
This precedent has been used by the opposition to question the approach of the regional Government. Parties like PSOE and Más Madrid criticize that the inclusion of the “unborn” in the calculation of large families introduces controversial elements into administrative regulations and demand greater clarity on its legal fit.
From the regional Executive they defend that the measure has a strictly administrative scope and that it does not affect the current legal framework on abortion nor other rights. Furthermore, they maintain that its objective is to facilitate access to resources for families in an early stage of pregnancy.
