Madrid admits public hospitals cannot guarantee all abortion services

The Community of Madrid has officially acknowledged in a procurement document that the Madrid Health Service (Sermas) cannot currently guarantee the provision of voluntary pregnancy interruptions (abortion) in all public hospitals. A tender from the Hospital Universitario de El Escorial cites the ‘exercise of the right to conscientious objection by healthcare personnel’ as a primary reason for this limitation.

As a result, the regional government is increasingly relying on accredited private clinics to ensure effective access to the procedure. Data from the Ministry of Health indicates that in 2024, 99.53% of abortions in Madrid were performed in private centers, with only 86 procedures—representing 0.47% of the total—taking place in the public health system.

The regional Ministry of Health maintains that the right to the procedure is guaranteed and that the use of external centers is necessary to ensure access. They also emphasized that the right to conscientious objection is an individual freedom for medical staff. The regional administration has spent 22 million euros over the last six years on referring these cases from the public to the private sector.