No more discussions about “when life begins” in Croatia
On 28 September, the Croatian Platform for Reproductive Rights demanded, loud and clear, not just safe and legal, but widely available and free abortion. Reproductive rights acknowledge the right of a woman to terminate her pregnancy but also to plan to become a parent. The politicization of reproductive rights means that women have to fight for free and quality public health and education, a sufficient number of public kindergartens and nurseries, safe workplaces and housing policies that take solidarity into account. The right to abortion cannot be secured by bringing just one legal frame because legal equality does not take into account uneven material preconditions that dictate whether a person will be able to practise that right. Unemployed women, women who have short-term contracts, women from rural areas, women with children without family and community support, women asylum seekers – they do not have a real choice; often they lack the money for abortion and also adequate conditions to raise their children. See photos from the protest in Zagreb here.
SOURCE: Udruga PaRiter, in Astra CEE Bulletin, No.10(168), 2017