Croatia rules allowing-abortion law not unconstitutional

Croatia's Constitutional Court decided on Thursday that a law allowing abortion is not contrary to the constitution, but called on the parliament to adopt a new abortion law within two years.

Miroslav Separovic, president of Constitutional Court, said at a news conference that the current law allowing a woman to terminate up to the 10th week of pregnancy did not breach the constitution.

The court called on the lawmakers to pass a new law on the issue, Croatia News Agency HINA reported.

Under the Court's ruling, the parliament cannot adopt law banning abortion, but should consider the women's right to privacy and the protection of unborn life at same time, he said.

The new law should define educational and preventive measures which would make "pregnancy termination an exception", he added.

ProLife.hr, an umbrella organization of associations opposed to abortion, said they would launch a petition for a referendum challenging the Constitutional Court's ruling, HINA reported.

However, Separovic said the room for a possible referendum on the issue has been very much narrowed after the court's ruling.

The current law dates back to 1978 when Croatia was one of six Yugoslav republics, but it was challenged by the association Croatian Movement for Life and Family after Croatia split from Yugoslavia in 1991.

The Constitutional Court has worked on the case since 2015 as the association intensified their campaign recent years. Endit