The news about the case of Mirela Cavajda, a pregnant woman from Croatia, who was refused an abortion by several health institutions because the baby has a brain tumor, spread in the region. In addition, it raised an avalanche of questions – What is the legislation in our country? Why is abortion still a taboo topic in our country?
Prim. Dr. Vernes Begovic, gynecology specialist said: ”Gynecological surgeries and all polyclinics, hospitals, and clinics have the right to perform a forced abortion at the patient’s request, legally permitted, either under general or local anesthesia.”
”Abortion after the tenth week can be approved in case of anomalies, illness of the child, illness of the mother, or when we have some higher interest than the life of the baby,” he added.
The situation in practice is such that, although there is a legal basis that obliges to provide free and safe health services, abortion is still not available on equal terms throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The reasons for this are multiple.
NGOs find it paradoxical that abortion is a taboo subject, while the numbers are wild.
Mirjana Cuskic, Helsinki Committee for Human Rights told: ”It is pointless and devastating in modern democratic societies to argue about the right to abortion, but we are witnessing that this right is increasingly being questioned, denied, and obstructed.”
The ethical dilemma, due to which many BiH gynecologists did not agree to talk about this topic, is great because abortion is considered childbirth under the current law after the third month of pregnancy.
