ONE OF US applauds this recognition because this recognition, with the inherent rights, is the origin and reason of our Federation. The recognition of the unborn as «ONE OF US«, with the inherent rights of every human being.
The Austrian government allows parents to register children who died before birth with a weight less than 500 grams. Moreover, they will obtain a certificate of birth and death where the name of the baby appears.
Austria sets a precedent for recognizing the life of the unborn. In this case the government led by the Social Democrats has obtained enough support to carry out a reform that allows parents to enrol, in the Civil Registry, children who died before birth with a weight less than 500 grams.
This action, which came out thanks to the support of Christian Democrats and Socialists, gives parents a birth certificate of their deceased son, as well as the death certificate with the baby’s name.
For the moment, Austria is the first European country to approve a measure with similar characteristics, but it is a great step to recognize not only that children who have been conceived are human beings, but also that they have their own legal entity.
Austrian Family Minister, Sophie Karmasin, is satisfied with the measure. According to the newspaper Kurier, the minister says that it is a measure «that will help parents to overcome the death of their children.»
However, she said that the parents will need a report from the hospital confirming the death, to begin with the recognition process. Nevertheless, the minister has detailed that they are still studying whether this measure can be applied retroactively.
On the other hand, Health Minister Sabine Oberhauser said that «both parents have to request it voluntarily, without pressure.»
Although Austria is the first country to take a real measure on the rights of the unborn, other countries are already beginning to recognize them.
Recognition of the unborn
In August 2016, an Irish High Court Judge ruled that unborn children have all the rights of “born” children under the Irish constitution and law. He explained that the unborn implicitly has a series of rights that go well beyond the right to live, emphasizing that these rights «must be taken into account very seriously by the Government».
Moreover, groups of families from many countries have asked their governments to take an action in favour of the unborn child. Like in Chile, where organizations to support parents in mourning, went this November to the Presidential Palace of Chile to ask President Bachelet to support the bill that allows the parents to register their children who died in the period of gestation or during the childbirth, with a legal name.
