The first comprehensive interactive map with data on access to abortion in Europe was released in September by the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights (EPF) and the International Planned Parenthood Federation, a now archaic abortion NGO. It is called Abortion Atlas and places Croatia at the bottom of this obnoxious ranking, with a score of 60%.
Abortion was made legal in Croatia through a law that dates back to 1978, in the Yugoslavian era, and is legal up to 10 weeks of the child’s life in the womb. The latest data from a long-range analysis that can be found are from 2018 and show a decline in the number of terminations over the 2000-2015 time frame.
Perhaps for this reason, in recent days, MP Anka Mrak-Taritaš, president of the Liberal Civic Alliance (GLAS) party, has declared her intention to initiate a parliamentary procedure that would force the government to guarantee access to abortion in all Croatian hospitals. According to Mrak-Taritaš, such access would be hindered at the moment, as she stated at a press conference, denouncing how in her opinion the legal norms allowing the right to conscientious objection are “rather fluid” and can be interpreted in a broad way.
This is a real attack on the application of the right to conscientious objection, which is considered the main obstacle to abortion access in health institutions in Croatia, in perfect alignment with the latest releases of the World Health Organization.
During a dialogue with journalists, Anka Mrak-Taritaš presented the data collected by the Croatian branch of the NGO Platform for Reproductive Justice. These data show that, for the year 2020, of 29 public health institutions authorized to perform abortions, eight did not provide the service thanks to the right to conscientious objection of medical personnel. Yes, this is absolutely and totally sacrosanct.