An analysis of the PP and Vox programs on life, family and freedom of education

@ElentirENG ES 7·09·2023 · 7:01 0

Facing the general elections on July 23, there are several aspects of the proposals of the different parties that are very important.

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These aspects are the defense of life, family and freedom of education, three areas of our society that have been especially mistreated by the coalition government of socialists and communists headed by Pedro Sánchez. For your interest, as this is a Christian and liberal-conservative blog, and because they are the only parties that seek to capture the center-right vote, I will analyze below electoral program of the Popular Party (see PDF) and Vox's electoral program (see PDF).

DEFENSE OF LIFE

Popular Party

• It does not contemplate repealing the abortion law. It will only reform the part related to parental permission for minors to abort (point 129 of the program). Remember that in February Feijóo said that this law, which he calls the "right" to abortion, was "correct".
• It does not contemplate repealing the euthanasia law. It only says that it will review it "taking into account the opinion of the Bioethics Committee", a committee purged a year ago by the PSOE.
• Asignature will guarantee the right to conscientious objection of health professionals (point 128), but without mentioning abortion or euthanasia at that point.
• It promises to support the birth rate, increasing the benefit per child and "making it possible to collect it from the fifth month of pregnancy".
• It does not contemplate repealing Organic Law 4/2022, which penalizes pro-life activists for praying, informing or demonstrating in front of abortion centers, a measure injurious to fundamental rights approved by the government of Pedro Sánchez.
• It makes no reference to the bellies for rent.

Vox

• It undertakes to repeal the abortion law and eliminate it as a right (points 113, 360 and 361). It also undertakes to suppress the practice of abortions in public health (point 114). It frames abortion in the "culture of death" (point 117) and clearly commits to the following: "We will defend the right to life from its conception until natural death and we will put an end to the culture of death" (point 360).
• It undertakes to repeal the euthanasia law (points 113, 360 and 369) and to eliminate this practice from public health (point 114).
• It proposes aid and alternatives to pregnant mothers so that they are not forced to abort (points 361 and 362).
• It undertakes to guarantee the freedom of conscience of all health personnel (points 117 and 367), but unlike the PP, in this point it expressly cites abortion, euthanasia and the administration of treatments related to the trans law. In addition, it extends that right to administrative staff as well.
• It undertakes to eliminate public aid to organizations that promote abortion (point 363).
• It undertakes to repeal Organic Law 4/2022, which penalizes pro-life activists for praying, informing or demonstrating in front of abortion centers.
• It rejects the bellies for rent and "any activity that reifies and uses human beings as a product of sale" (point 380).

DEFENSE OF FAMILY

Popular Party

• It promises tax relief for families (point 41) by reducing "VAT on meat, fish and canned food temporarily".
• It promises support to large families (points 160 and 161) and also to single-parent families, and assistance to families in vulnerable situations.
• It undertakes to recover the bonus of up to 45% of Social Security contributions for hiring domestic workers (point 161).
• It promises to promote a State pact for maternity, paternity and the family, increasing the amount and scope of the benefit per child (point 160).

Vox

• It proposes abolishing the Ministry of Equality and creating a Ministry of the Family (point 344), promoting a National Birth Plan and support for the family.
• It promises a Law for the comprehensive protection of the family, "that recognizes and protects the importance of the family and the essential role it plays as the backbone of our social being and natural environment for the development and growth of the person This rule will include fiscal, economic, and social protection measures and in the field of domestic violence" (point 345).
• It promises tax breaks for large families, "interest-free loans or bank guarantees for young couples with children, school scholarships for lunch and transportation, sports aid and benefits in access to public services in collaboration with the rest of administrations" (point 346).
• It commits itself to "resolute support for births", with "comprehensive birth protection measures, both fiscal and health, psychological or access to social services. No one should be discouraged from having a child due to lack of support from the administration" (point 347).
• It promises to place families "at the center of all public policies" (item 348) and "a family document identifying its members and which will mean more conditions for its bearers beneficial in access to different public services: transportation, libraries, sports facilities or leisure activities" (point 351).
• It promises to "radically reduce VAT on products for early childhood such as nappies, bottles or formula milk" (point 354).
• It promises to establish "joint custody as the general rule in case of separations between spouses to preserve and protect the right of minors to relate to their parents and grandparents" (point 358).
• It promises that families with four or more children will not have to pay Personal Income Tax (item 148.1), under the following conditions: "The single types of Personal Income Tax of 15% and 25% will be reduced by four points per each child, so that a family with four children will not pay personal income tax if their income is less than 70,000 euros and will only pay 9% if their income is greater than 70,000 euros."
• He promises to reduce the personal income tax base for labor costs derived from hiring home help (item 148.6) and health personnel to help families, and adds: "also, school expenses will reduce the personal income tax base."
• It promises to "radically" lower VAT on basic and essential products, "such as children's products and drugs, nappies or geriatric products" (point 149). It also promises to eliminate VAT for the acquisition of the first habitual residence.

DEFENSE OF THE FREEDOM OF EDUCATION

Popular Party

• It does not contemplate repealing the LOMLOE (Celáa Law), approved by the government of Pedro Sánchez, but promises to reform it (point 145).
• He promises to defend the freedom of parents "to choose the center and the type of education they want for their children" (point 149), "whether these are public, private or concerted, ordinary or special education, within the existing possibilities."
• It makes no reference to ideological indoctrination in schools, but promises to ensure "ideological neutrality in the classroom" (point 152). The program does not say anything about the gender laws supported by the PP and that violate that ideological neutrality.
• It does not contemplate the free choice of language in schools, and limits itself to pointing out that in communities with two official languages "both will be considered vehicles in accordance with the pattern of linguistic balance, ensuring that all students write and express themselves correctly in Spanish and in the corresponding co-official language" (point 151).

Vox

• Promises to ensure "clearly and immediately the right to be educated in Spanish throughout the national territory" (point 49).
• It undertakes to prosecute "educational authorities that impede the right of students to be educated in Spanish or that promote measures to indoctrinate children" (point 50).
• It promises to recover "the legitimate authority of parents and their leading role in their children's education, starting with guaranteeing parents' prior knowledge and acceptance of any affective-sexual or ideological content that their children may receive in the classroom" (point 51), repealing "Herod Law and all laws that violate the rights of parents to educate their children in freedom."
• It promises to shield "the free choice of educational center at all levels through a school check so that families freely choose the educational model they want, without their economic or social situation being an impediment to it" (point 52).
• It promises to guarantee by law "the protection of minors of school age, punishing with extreme harshness the activities of indoctrination and corruption that threaten their innocence" (point 53).
• He promises to defend "differentiated education centers , guaranteeing their accessibility and promoting the role of special educators in all schools and institutes" (point 58).
• He promises to eliminate "totalitarian ideological impositions and their culture of cancellation" in universities (point 59), guaranteeing "the academic freedom of professors in the classroom against the impositions of political correctness."

CONCLUSIONS

After reviewing both programs on the issues indicated, an ideological abyss between the PP and Vox is perceived, especially in the defense of life, in which the PP's abandonment of conservative positions is more than evident. The attention that Vox provides to these three areas is broader, exhaustive and more committed than that of the PP, with express proposals to repeal ideological laws of the left by Vox, a repeal that the PP did not even behold.

As a Christian and as a liberal-conservative, the PP program seems invotable to me, because it implies consolidating, to a large extent, the ideological project established by socialists and communists during the mandate of Pedro Sánchez. On the contrary, the Vox program is a clear and express commitment to the culture of life, to the defense of the family and to freedom of education, in a way that seems to me worthy of applause.

For me these three issues are key when it comes to voting. Although both parties defend, to a greater or lesser extent, economic proposals that tend to reduce the tax burden, I, consistently, cannot give my vote to the PP with a clearly pro-abortion program. As for Vox, the only hope I have that what it proposes will be fulfilled is that this party has all the necessary support to carry it out. So, my vote will be for Vox.