ZAGREB, 4 May 2022 - It should be possible for every woman in Croatia to terminate pregnancy even after ten weeks if there are medical reasons for that, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday after the media reported on the case of a 39-year-old woman whose second child in the womb has an aggressive brain tumour.
The ministry called on all health institutions to timely and accurately inform their patients of their rights and possibilities that exist in Croatia.
Mirela Čavajda, whose second child got an aggressive brain tumour in the womb, told the Index web portal, which was the first to publish her story, that all hospitals in Zagreb she contacted had refused to do a termination of pregnancy despite the fact that doctors told her that the tumour was so big the child most likely would not live long, and even if it did, it would never have a normal life.
The doctors she talked to convinced her they would be happy to help her, but they said it was illegal in Croatia to do an abortion after week ten, Index wrote.
The parent tried to seek help in all Zagreb hospitals that could do a termination of pregnancy -- Sveti Duh, Merkur, Vinogradska, and last Friday they sent a request to hospitals to establish a committee which should by law approve a termination of pregnancy, but they still have not received a response.
Čavajda added that she therefore launched a procedure in Slovenia, where she was told after an examination that the diagnosis was very bad, that there was nothing disputable about her case and that the decision was up to the parents, announcing that an ethics committee would make a decision on the request next Tuesday.
In a reaction to that case, the Croatian Ministry of Health said that a termination of pregnancy was possible after week ten with an approval of the committee and with the consent, that is, at the request of the pregnant woman, in cases where there are medical indications, or when the conception occurred as a result of rape, intercourse with an incapacitated person, intercourse by abuse of position, intercourse with a child or incest.
In order to ensure the woman's right, the Ministry of Health has enabled the establishment of a second-instance committee at the KBC Zagreb Hospital, in case the first-instance committee denies her request, it was said.
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