Dozens of International Organizations Protested the Planned Reallocation of Abortion Funds from State Budget
István Pálffy and Tamás Sáringer-Kenyeres, both MPs of the Christian Democratic Party (KDNP) have submitted a proposal to Parliament to reallocate funds from abortions to child protection and to incite adoptions. 45 organizations called the government’s attention to the fact that in case the Parliament were to adopt the proposal, the most vulnerable women would find themselves in even worse situations and that the proposal is against Hungary’s international commitments. The Parliament voted on the proposal on December 13th.
According to effective laws, health related abortions are financed by health care funds. If the pregnancy is the result of a crime or if the woman is in crisis, then the medical cost has to be financed by the woman. However, it is possible to be exempt from payment in full or in part based on social status. These are the funds the proposal intends to cut off, thus women unable to pay for the medical costs would be unable to have legal and safe interventions. (app.150 USD)
International experts citing the acclaimed Guttmacher Institute allege that the acceptance of the proposal would have exceptionally serious consequences. In spite of the existing legal choice, women would be forced to carry their pregnancies to term or to spend from funds needed for other important purposes, such as their other children. Research also shows that cutting off funding leads to belated, therefore more complicated interventions and could result in missing deadlines. According to experts, these scenarios should not take place in countries where abortion is legal.
Those opposing the proposal, including the ASTRA Network, Catholics for Choice and the Center for Reproductive Rights calls upon Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to do everything in his power in order to halt acceptance by the Parliament.
Besides the international letter of objection, the PATENT Association and the HCLU also sent a petition signed by 266 private individuals to Viktor Orbán.
„Objections voiced by a great number of international organizations clearly shows that access to abortion cannot only be made difficult by the legal environment. Experts state that differentiating between women is unacceptable”- says Stefánia Kapronczay, Head of the HCLU’s Patients’ Rights Program.
This just in: the government did not support the KDNP’s proposal!
