Civil groups voice support for new abortion rules

Twenty Hungarian civil groups have expressed support for a recent ministerial decree under which abortions are now conditional on the mother listening to the foetus’s heartbeat.

In a statement sent to MTI on Thursday the organisations, active in efforts to protect foetal life and support pregnant women, said “Hungary’s pro-life community” unanimously welcomed and supported the decree, adding that “the test, easily performed with modern diagnostic equipment could save the lives of many fellow humans in the foetal phase”. Citing experience from other countries, they said that “such an encounter between mother and baby have turned around a number of desperate mothers under pressure of circumstances”.

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The signatories said they hoped many babies could be saved and many families could avoid the physical and spiritual trauma following an abortion through “the foetus given an opportunity to send a message to parents about to decide on its fate”.

The signatories include the Society of Christian Doctors in Hungary, the Association of Large Families, and the Hungarian Bioethical society, while the statement was also signed by Csaba Böjte, head of the St. Francis Foundation of Deva, Bishop János Székely, and neurosurgeon András Csókay.

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Source: MTI