Slovakia may force women to get pre-abortion ultrasound

By MARIA CHENG
November 29, 2019

LONDON (AP) — Lawmakers in Slovakia are scheduled to debate a proposed law Friday that would compel women seeking an abortion to first have an ultrasound and listen to the heartbeat of the embryo or fetus, a move many groups have decried as a backward step for women’s rights.

The bill was submitted by three members of the conservative Slovak National Party, who wrote that it is intended “to ensure that women are informed about the current stage of their pregnancy” before having an abortion.

It would oblige doctors to show a woman ultrasound images “about the development stage of the embryo or fetus whose development is to be terminated.” The draft bill states that “if technically feasible, the physician must also enable her to listen to the heartbeat of the embryo or fetus.”

The authors of the bill wrote that “the proposed draft law has positive impacts on marriage, parenthood and family” and that “society does not consider the induced termination of pregnancy a good solution.”

In a series of demonstrations this week in Bratislava, protesters argued the draft law violates women’s fundamental human rights, including the rights to privacy, autonomy and the ability to make medical decisions free from coercion.

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