Medical facilities will now be required to notify local governments of births with the passage of a bill to that end on Friday.

The National Assembly convened a plenary session and passed a revision to the family relations registration law, with 266 of 267 lawmakers in attendance voting for the bill with one abstention.

The new system obligates hospitals to notify authorities of information about newborns via the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service in an effort to ensure that no child is left unregistered by parents who deliberately refuse to declare their birth.

Efforts to pass the bill gained speed after a series of cases of unregistered children being murdered or abandoned came to light, sparking public outrage.

Once the bill takes effect a year after promulgation, the heads of medical institutions must notify the health care service assessor of related information within 14 days after birth.

Under the law, local authorities will give a seven-day notice to parents who fail to register their babies before the government does so by proxy with a court order.

The latest passage is expected to add momentum to legislative efforts to introduce a system that protects newborns before the notification scheme takes effect as lawmakers are concerned about a possible increase in off-the-radar births once the notification rule is enforced.