Mirela Cavajda, a 39-year-old woman who went public after three hospitals in Zagreb had refused her request for an abortion following test results that showed the foetus had a massive brain tumor and practically no chance of survival, can undergo medical pregnancy termination in Croatia after all, Health Minister Vili Beros said on Wednesday.

Beros explained that a second-instance commission of the KBC Zagreb hospital decided to grant her request.

Cavajda’s story generated nationwide publicity and brought the debate on abortion rights into the spotlight. Under the law that has been in force since the 70s, abortion is legal in Croatia until 10 weeks of pregnancy, and after that date under specific circumstances, including, as was Cavajda’s case, severe malformations on the foetus which result in low chances of survival.

However, doctors at state hospitals are allowed to declare themselves conscientious objectors and refuse to perform abortions. This means that many hospitals do not have doctors who would be willing to terminate pregnancies, leaving many women without access to the procedure.

In addition, for later-stage pregnancies with complications – including the Cavajda case – the law stipulates that a hospital should form a commission to approve any abortion. Cavajda reportedly contacted several hospitals in Zagreb with her request to terminate her pregnancy after prenatal scans have showed that the fetus inside her is malformed and is unlikely to survive the birth. According to local media, all the hospitals turned her down.

Beros said the commission at the KBC Zagreb hospital was comprised of eminent experts, a judge and a social worker, who decided that the situation was extremely difficult.

He said the law did not regulate a further course of action, but recommended on behalf of the health system that Cavajda go to one of Zagreb’s hospitals to arrange with experts and gynecologists, who would be at her disposal, how to terminate the pregnancy.

Asked if any doctor in Croatia could perform such a procedure, he said there were several methods but that, as minister, he could not go into them.

Beros said he wished to guarantee that what was safest for Cavajda, what was optimal and in line with her requests would be done. If she opts for a procedure that is not performed in Croatia, she will be able to do so abroad, he added.

He said that in her case all the prerequisites had been met to pay for the procedure abroad given that the second-instance commission approved the procedure.

We can see her tomorrow already and make arrangements in line with her wishes, options and decisions, he added.