Slovakia set to pass law forcing women to view images of embryo or foetus before abortion

The country's parliament will consider the law

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Slovakian woman seeking an abortion would be forced to view pictures of their embryo or foetus under plans for a new law being considered by the country's parliament.

The draft law, to be voted on on Friday, would also require women to listen to the "foetal heartbeat" where technically possible before they could proceed with a termination.

The law, which would be the first of its kind in Europe, would also ban "advertising" of abortions and impose steep fines on those who disseminate it.

Last week an open letter signed by around 30 organisations including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Marie Stopes International, and the International Campaign for Women‘s Right to Safe Abortion, called for the the plan to be rejected, describing it as "regressive".

They said "there is no medical reason whatsoever for the proposed changes" and pointed to judgments by the European Court of Human Rights

Human rights groups criticised the plan, which they said would harm women's reproductive rights and set a "dangerous" precedent for other EU countries.

“This legislation is a clear attempt to roll back on reproductive rights of the women of Slovakia," said Monica Costa Riba, a senior campaigner at Amnesty.

"If adopted, it will harm women’s health and well-being, obstruct their access to safe abortion care and violate Slovakia’s international human rights obligations.

“As per the World Health Organisation’s safe abortion guidelines, there are no medical grounds whatsoever for the proposed changes. Rather they appear intended to create barriers to obtaining abortion, and we call on all MPs to reject this regressive proposal.

“If adopted, Slovakia will become the only EU member state to impose such requirements on women and it would set a dangerous precedent for other countries in Europe.”

The proposal has cross-party support in the country and stands a chance of passing. A Focus agency opinion poll in September found 55.5 per cent of people disagreed with restricting abortions while 34.6 per cent supported the move.