Anna Záborská (source: TASR)
Parliament did not approve a law “on the assistance to pregnant women“, which would set several limits to their access to safe abortions.
Out of the 134 MPs present, 67 voted for it, 38 were against, 28 abstained and one did not vote. The repeated attempt of MP Anna Záborská (OĽaNO) to pass more restrictive legislation fell exactly one vote short of passing once again.
NGOs advocating for human rights, as well as leading Slovak gyneacologists, saw in the amendment an attempt to make access to abortions more difficult. One point of the proposal said that the time period between the decision to undergo abortion to the actual surgery should be prolonged to 96 hours from the current 48.
Conservative MPs argued that the law should use social measures to motivate women not to have an abortion.
Attempts to remove the restrictive parts of the law while leaving the ones that were seen by most MPs as helpful for families were not successful.
The parliament has dealt with the abortion legislation every six months as MPs have proposed the amendment repeatedly.
