Legal, but… abortion access under threat in Catholic Croatia

Legal, but... abortion access under threat in Catholic Croatia

March 28, 2019

On paper, abortion has been legal in Croatia for decades. But in practice, it is becoming less available in the largely Catholic country where religious pressure is pushing doctors increasingly to refuse abortions on moral grounds.

"Why are gynaecologists obliged to do abortions? I don't really see a connection," said Boris Ujevic, a doctor at Zagreb's public Holy Spirit Hospital, when asked why he does not offer the procedure.

Continued: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-03-legal-abortion-access-threat-catholic.html


CROATIA – Movement to stop violence against women in hospitals

CROATIA – Movement to stop violence against women in hospitals

by International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion
Nov 20, 2018

Ivana Nincevic Lesandric, member of Parliament from the centre-right MOST party shared a personal story in Parliament of having had an abortion after a miscarriage in a Croatian hospital, which revived a public debate on the state of women’s health care. She said doctors had tied her hands and legs before doing an extremely painful curettage to remove tissue from her uterus without anesthesia. She said the conditions were “from the 15th century” and the most painful 30 minutes of her life, and that many Croatian women have experienced this. In response, Minister of Health, Milan Kujundzic, said “it does not work like that in Croatian hospitals.” Little did he know.

Within three days, Parents in Action – RODA, a group that advocates for dignified pregnancy, parenthood and childhood, collected and sent the Minister 400 testimonies from women who had had similar experiences. The slogan of the movement to stop violence against women in hospitals is #BreakTheSilence / #PrekinimoŠutnju.

Continued: http://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/croatia-movement-to-stop-violence-against-women-in-hospitals/