50 years after the former Yugoslavia protected abortion rights, that legacy is under threat

By Darko Bandic And Jovana Gec, The Associated Press
Mar 27, 2024

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — With vigils outside clinics, marches drawing thousands and groups of men kneeling to pray in public squares, religious and neo-conservative groups have been ramping up pressure to ban abortions in staunchly Catholic Croatia.

The fierce debate has fueled divisions in the European Union nation of about 3.9 million people where abortion remains legal but access to the procedure is often denied, sending many women to neighboring Slovenia to end a pregnancy.

The movement is in stark contrast to Croatia’s recent past, when it was part of the former Yugoslavia, a Communist-run country that protected abortion rights in its constitution 50 years ago.

Continued: https://halifax.citynews.ca/2024/03/27/50-years-after-the-former-yugoslavia-protected-abortion-rights-that-legacy-is-under-threat/


Developments on abortion and conscientious objection in Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina

CROATIA / BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA – Developments on abortion and conscientious objection in Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina

by International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion
Feb 15, 2019

The cost of an abortion in Bosnia & Herzegovina (BiH) is two times lower than in Croatia. More women from Croatia are consequently deciding to have an abortion in BiH. Even though doctors can claim conscientious objection in both countries, the situation in Croatia is worse as public pressure to refrain from abortion is higher there. The problem in Croatia is worst for women from smaller towns and villages who may find that no one will provide an abortion, forcing them to go to clinics in Sarajevo. Recently, one woman confided in Dr Emina Sarajlija Pavlović that the doctor from the previous clinic she visited attacked her and said “No abortion, you should give birth to that child.”

The 1977 Law on Abortion in BiH is one of the most liberal in Europe, but abortion is still not available to everyone under good conditions in BiH either, leading to the practice of illegal abortions.

Continued: http://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/croatia-bosnia-herzegovina-developments-on-abortion-and-conscientious-objection-in-croatia-and-bosnia-herzegovina/