The need to protect human life before birth contradicts a woman’s right to safe and legal abortion. Kriskova told Byline Times that the language reflects the “Eighth Amendment in Ireland that banned abortion. We know from Ireland, from Poland, from the United States that when it comes to a balance of the right to life of the woman or the foetus, women always lose.”
The Bill also seeks to ban abortion advertising, which in practice means doctors informing patients they offer terminations. It could even lead to a ban on medical instruments used to perform abortion and surgical being included in catalogues. There are already regions in Slovakia where no doctors or hospitals offer abortion – this change makes it harder for women to know where to go to access care.
