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Solidarity demonstration in Zagreb
Photo: IMAGO/Igor Kralj/PIXSELL / IMAGO/Pixsell
Thousands of people took to the streets in Croatia to demonstrate for the right to abortion.
"We will force the health system to respect women," said the prominent women's rights activist Sanja Sarnavka in the capital Zagreb in front of demonstrators.
The protest was preceded by the case of a 39-year-old woman who was initially denied an abortion despite the serious illness of her fetus.
The woman was six months pregnant when doctors diagnosed her fetus with a brain tumor in April.
They told her the child would either die or have serious health problems, the woman told local media.
However, they refused the abortion and instead recommended that she go to neighboring Slovenia.
They rejected a total of four hospitals in Zagreb.
The case caused outrage across the country.
A medical commission finally concluded on Wednesday that an abortion in Cavajda's case was both medically and legally justified and approved it.
Activists fear poorer care
The demonstration in Zagreb took place under the motto »Enough«.
Slogans such as "Enough with refusing medical treatment" or "Enough with endangering women's health" were on protest posters.
Abortions are generally possible in Croatia up to the tenth week.
Even later, an abortion can still be carried out in exceptional cases: in the case of rape, incest or serious danger to the health of the mother or the child.
However, activists fear a creeping restriction of the right to abortion.
Conservative groups, backed by the influential Catholic Church, have been pushing for restrictions on abortion rights for years.
According to surveys, many medical professionals now refuse to perform abortions on grounds of conscience.
ani/AFP