New moves to introduce pro-life law to Croatia underway

Politicians in Croatia have begun procedures to introduce strong pro-life legislation into the country that aims to protect life from conception.

Currently, the law permits abortion up until 10 weeks’ gestation and allows abortion after that point in limited circumstances.

Under the new proposals, abortion would be permitted only if a mother’s life was in danger. Instead, under the party’s proposals, the focus would be on education, counselling and prevention.

Politicians started gathering signatures on Monday of this week. They need at least 30 for the matter to be included on parliament’s agenda. They have appealed to all the lawmakers who have previously said they are pro-life to sign the petition.

“Now we will see whether they care more about values or party discipline”

Hrvoje Zekanović said: “This is a chance for all those who call themselves Christian Democrats to prove that they are indeed prepared to protect human life from its conception”.

“Now we will see whether they care more about values or party discipline, especially members of the (ruling) HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) whose president is so afraid of raising this issue that he did not even honour the deadline which the Constitutional Court gave him a long time ago to change the law”.

In 2017 the Constitutional Court ordered parliament to pass a new law on abortion within two years, which has not happened. 

This moves comes after Poland has introduced strong legal protections for babies in the womb, recently banning abortion on the grounds of disability. The previous law in Poland, which permitted abortion on these grounds, was found to be incompatible with the constitution, which forbids such discrimination.

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