BUDAPEST: More than 1,000 Hungarians protested on Wednesday against a change in abortion rules that took effect on Sep 15, which women's rights groups say would humiliate and torture women while having no effect on the number of abortions.
Under the rules amended by the Conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government, pregnant women are required to submit evidence from their healthcare provider of a definitive sign of life, widely interpreted as the heartbeat of a foetus, before they can request the procedure.
The government denied that it would amount to a tightening of rules and gave no reason for the change. Political analysts have said it could be aimed at winning votes for Orban's Fidesz party from the far-right Our Homeland party, which won seats in parliament for the first time in April, and has campaigned for these changes to abortion rules.
The government pretends to be pro-life, but these measures do not protect a single life: the real purpose of the sneaking restriction is the humiliation of women and exercise control over women's lives, organizers said in a statement.
They called on Orban's government to provide safe living conditions for women expecting children and to make contraception accessible to everyone.
Protesters, some of whom carried placards saying My body, my life, my decision or Free of charge contraception for everyone, gathered outside Hungary's parliament and planned to march to the Interior Ministry, which drew up the reforms.
Laura Fekete, 22, a student, said this is a very bad requirement as going for an abortion is a hugely traumatising experience and that means women must have heard the foetus' heartbeat.
I believe it is up to each and every individual to decide whether they want to have a child or not. The government should not meddle in this. Hungarian women can request an abortion in cases of rape, risk to the mother's health from pregnancy, severe disability of the unborn child or in case of serious personal crisis.
The number of abortions fell to 22,000 in Hungary last year from over 90,000 in 1990, according to official statistics.
Poland, one of Europe's most devoutly Catholic countries, has a near-total ban on abortion.