Mirela (2022) Croatia

Four hospitals deny a woman a legal abortion because of serious fetal anomalies, forcing her to go to Slovenia.

At a regular gynecological check-up in April, it was found that Mirela Čavajda’s fetus had a malignant brain tumor. She waited nine days to get the medical report confirming that the child, if born, would have serious defects or be stillborn. She was advised to go to neighboring Slovenia if she wanted to terminate her pregnancy. No one at the hospital told her she had the right to request abortion in her home country and that if she did so, a commission would be formed to decide on the matter.

Čavajda thus decided to seek help in Slovenia (which has similar laws and rules), but also requested a response from commissions in four hospitals in Croatia’s capital, Zagreb. All four hospitals refused her request to terminate the pregnancy. Some refused without explanation, while others said they could not confirm the diagnosis or did not have the necessary conditions to perform the procedure. One doctor asked Cavajda whether she would “kill a two-year-old child with a tumour”, while another labelled the procedure “euthanasia”. Some doctors reportedly speculated on whether the fetus could survive, although the commission in Slovenia, which was convened immediately, argued otherwise.

Amid public anger, and after an MRI scan showed the foetus’ condition deteriorating, the Croatian health minister announced that a health commission in Zagreb had authorised the termination of the pregnancy.  So while the abortion was eventually permitted in Croatia, Cavajde had it done in Slovenia.

The percentage of doctors who refuse to perform abortions as conscientious objectors is nearly 60% and reaches 100% in some Croatian hospitals. Objectors include not only obstetricians but also anaesthesiologists and other doctors needed for the procedure.

Sources: