Madrid introduces registry of doctors refusing abortions a new phase in abortion regulation

Madrid officials have begun discussions on establishing a registry for medical professionals who refuse to perform abortions. The new proposal has sparked debate among politicians and the public. The decision could impact access to healthcare services in the region.

Ricardo Rubio
April 2, 2026

The introduction of a registry for medical workers who refuse to perform abortions on ethical grounds could shift the balance between patient and doctor rights in Madrid. For residents of the region, this may mean changes in access to healthcare services and new regulations for hospitals. Authorities say the decision is aimed at complying with legislation and ensuring medical standards are met.

As El Pais notes, the Madrid government has published the draft document on a public consultation portal. This step allows not only experts but also ordinary citizens to share their views on the proposed regulation. Officials emphasize that transparency and consideration of diverse opinions will help prevent conflicts between medical staff and patients.

Continued: https://russpain.com/en/news-3/madrid-authorities-consider-registry-for-conscientious-objector-doctors-424961/

02.04.2026

News

anti-choice misogyny

anti-choice negligence

belief-based care denial

care denial

conscientious objection

USA – Why Hospitals in Many States With Legal Abortion May Refuse To Perform Them

By Rachana Pradhan
MARCH 5, 2024

Many states that tout themselves as protectors of reproductive health care, including California, Michigan and Pennsylvania, have little-noticed laws on the books protecting hospitals that refuse to provide it.

The laws shield at least some hospitals from liability for not providing care they object to on religious grounds, leaving little recourse for patients. The providers — many of them Catholic hospitals — generally refuse to perform abortions and sterilizations because the services run contrary to their religious beliefs, but their objections can extend to other kinds of care.

Continued: https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/health-202-catholic-hospitals-legal-abortion-refusal/

South Africa: How poor service in the public sector is pushing women to ‘backstreet’ abortion

Posted by Ndivhuwo Mukwevho
Oct 18, 2023

In April 2022, *Grace Langa went to Frontier Hospital in Queenstown in the Eastern Cape for an abortion. “At first I went to the hospital on a Monday. I was told that they only perform abortions on Wednesdays.

“I went there again on Wednesday but they said that I had to come back the following week as they only take 20 abortion patients a day,” she recalls. Finally, Langa went back to the hospital the following week and got an ultrasound to see how far along her pregnancy was.

Continued: https://health-e.org.za/2023/10/18/ec-case-study-how-poor-service-in-the-public-sector-is-pushing-women-to-backstreet-abortion/

USA – Lawsuit: Woman died after not being treated properly following abortion

By David Wilson, Las Vegas Review-Journal
September 22, 2023

A 24-year-old woman died last year of complications from septic abortion which, according to a wrongful death lawsuit, could have been prevented if she received the proper care.

On Sept. 22, 2022, Alyona Dixon visited a Planned Parenthood location and was given medication to terminate her pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/lawsuit-woman-died-after-not-being-treated-properly-following-abortion-2908866/

22.09.2023

Alyona Dixon

care denial

Desert View Regional Medical Center

St. Rose Dominican Blue Diamond hospital

USA – ‘Conscience’ bills let medical providers opt out of providing a wide range of care

Carly Graf, KFF Health News
July 31, 2023

A new Montana law will provide sweeping legal protections to health care practitioners who refuse to prescribe marijuana or participate in procedures and treatments such as abortion, medically assisted death, gender-affirming care, or others that run afoul of their ethical, moral, or religious beliefs or principles.

The law, which goes into effect in October, will gut patients’ ability to take legal action if they believe they didn’t receive proper care due to a conscientious objection by a provider or an institution, such as a hospital.

Continued: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/07/31/conscience-bills-healthcare-providers-not-give-medical-care/70470186007/

USA – Abortion Denied: Reproductive Injustice Behind Bars

"[This situation] should make you wonder whether we, as a society, should be incarcerating pregnant people in the first place.”

VICTORIA LAW
July 28, 2023

K.Winston didn’t know she was pregnant when she entered the Cuyahoga County Jail. The intake process required a test for tuberculosis, one that typically involves injecting a fluid beneath the skin. Winston is allergic to that fluid, so jail staff planned to X-ray her instead.

First, they gave her a pregnancy test. Then, they told her, “We can’t do the test because you’re pregnant. You can go back to your [housing unit],” she said.

Continued: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/abortion-denied-reproductive-injustice/

28.07.2023

Commentary

abortion denial

abortion denied in prison

Advocacy and Research on Reproductive Wellness of Incarcerated People

American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska

belief-based care denial

Abortion now on the table of Finnish government talks

By Pekka Vanttinen | EURACTIV.com
Jun 1, 2023

The Christian Democrats are pushing for the right of healthcare workers to refuse to carry out abortions amid the now five-week-long government talks, Hufvudstadsbladet reported on Thursday.

The Christian Democrats, currently in government talks with the National Coalition Party, the Finns Party and the Swedish People’s Party, would like to see the right to be included in the programme, reported HBL. The Christian Democrats refused to deny or confirm the news.

Continued: https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/abortion-now-on-the-table-of-finnish-government-talks/

01.06.2023

News

abortion refusals

belief-based care denial

care denial

conscientious objection

Could an Abortion Ban Put Your Life in Danger?

What you should know about your medical rights—and what still needs to change to keep you safe.

BY GARNET HENDERSON
PUBLISHED: AUG 16, 2022

In the weeks since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, alarming stories have emerged of pregnant people being denied necessary medical care in some of the 15 states that now ban all or most abortions. To name a few: a woman in Wisconsin bled for 10 days due to an incomplete miscarriage when emergency room staff refused to remove the fetal tissue; one Texas physician said they were told by hospital management not to treat ectopic pregnancies until they ruptured (a life-threatening event); and a Louisiana woman was forced to endure painful labor after her water broke at just 16 weeks, because doctors were told they could not do an abortion procedure.

Continued: https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a40860997/abortion-bans-medical-rights-hospital-pharmacy/

Croatia: Mirela Čavajda: Rally in Support of Women Health Rights on Thursday 12th

By Jose Alfonso Cussianovich
9 May 2022

May 9, 2022 - Mirela Čavajda, a 39-year-old pregnant woman who requested an abortion in the 26th week of pregnancy after the fetus was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, had her request rejected by three hospitals in Zagreb. Donations from 1,472 citizens and 16 legal entities will cover Mirela's medical procedure that will take place in Slovenia.

The case of Mirela Čavajda, a 39-year-old pregnant woman whose request to have an abortion in the 26th week of pregnancy after the fetus was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor was rejected by three hospitals in Zagreb, has caused great outrage in the country, with demands for the reproductive rights and health rights of Croatian women to be respected.

Continued: https://www.total-croatia-news.com/lifestyle/62700-mirela-cavajda

In Spain, abortions legal but barriers remain

07/03/2022

Madrid (AFP) – When Spanish doctor Marta Vigara was 17 weeks pregnant, her waters broke and she quickly realised the prognosis for her pregnancy was "very bad".

A geriatric specialist working at Madrid's Clinico San Carlos hospital, she immediately went to her colleagues in the gynaecology department to have a therapeutic abortion.

Continued: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220307-in-spain-abortions-legal-but-barriers-remain