In Croatia, thousands of people protest against abortion
The “March for Life”, against abortion, in Zagreb on May 29, 2021. AFP - DENIS LOVROVIC
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3 min
Several thousand people marched on Saturday, May 29, in Zagreb to mark their opposition to abortion.
The demonstration was held for the sixth consecutive year, without great respect for the barrier gestures against the Covid-19.
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With our correspondent in Belgrade,
Laurent Rouy
The mechanics are now well established: at the call of organizations for the promotion of the family, thousands of opponents to
abortion
, but also to euthanasia, however prohibited in Croatia, gathered in the center of Zagreb Saturday May 29.
The mass of participants marched through the city behind the slogan: "Protect life from fertilization to natural death".
In the procession, a statue of the virgin is carried in procession, surrounded by a quantity of panels affirming that a fetus has the attributes of a person from the moment of fertilization.
Counter-demonstration
Along the way the procession took place a small counter-demonstration with a very different tone. Supporters for the right to terminate pregnancy stood on the sidewalk, dressed in blood-stained aprons and carried hangers in allusion to illegal abortions. And they demanded that the intervention be free for women.
Abortion is legal until the tenth week of pregnancy in Croatia, under a law dating back to 1978, when the country was part of Communist Yugoslavia.
The law allows doctors to refuse to perform abortion, and, according to official statistics, 60% of them exercise this right.
The Constitutional Court in 2017 ordered parliament to prepare new abortion legislation, ruling that the existing law was outdated, fueling fear of restrictions among supporters of the right to abortion.
The very influential Catholic Church
In this traditional country where the Catholic Church is very influential, Croatia saw the march take place for the sixth consecutive year.
This year, it is being held on the eve of local elections in Zagreb where a candidate representing the left and environmentalists is favored in the polls against a conservative.
But anti-abortion activism does not have any major links in the country's major political parties.
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