Overview

• Pedro Sánchez said the Council of Ministers will today formally require the Community of Madrid to create the legally mandated registry of conscientious objectors for abortion services.
• The cabinet is requesting a consultative opinion from the Council of State to begin a reform of Article 43 that would enshrine the right to voluntary abortion in the Constitution, with Sánchez urging the PP to back the change.
• Sánchez described a referendum as an option if needed, while indicating the Executive will seek to advance the reform through the public health article without triggering dissolution of the Cortes.
• Minister Félix Bolaños said technical work is advancing on legal tools to guarantee access, as PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo rejects constitutionalizing abortion and proposes lists of doctors willing to perform the procedure.
• Medical groups say a so‑called post‑abortion syndrome lacks scientific basis, Madrid’s mayor called his party’s vote on the measure an equivocation to be addressed in a plenary, and data cited by the government show only about 1% of abortions in Madrid occur in the public system.