Minister Ivan Šipić calls for revision of Croatia's abortion laws

Croatian Minister of Demography and Migration Ivan Šipić has called for a revision of the country’s abortion laws, describing the current legislation as a relic of the “communist era.” Speaking at the Walk for Life event in Sinj, Šipić advocated for the protection of life from conception to natural death.

The existing law, dating from 1978, allows women to terminate a pregnancy up to the 10th week of gestation. Beyond this period, termination requires approval from a special commission for reasons such as health risks, fetal abnormalities, or criminal acts. While the law remains in place, reports indicate that women face practical difficulties in exercising these rights, largely due to an increasing number of gynecologists invoking conscientious objection.

This debate follows a Constitutional Court ruling from a decade ago that set a two-year deadline for the government to establish new regulations regarding pregnancy termination, a mandate that successive governments have yet to fulfill.