Women's right group called Dosta! ("Enough!") has reported Croatia to the United Nations over the case of Mirela Cavajda, a pregnant woman who was denied access to abortion in Zagreb, the group said on Tuesday.

Cavajda’s baby was diagnosed with a tumor at a late stage in her pregnancy. Although she had applied to several hospitals in Zagreb to have abortion, she was denied the procedure, and eventually had to go to Slovenia. Her case, which received considerable media attention, led to a large rally in May, which raised awareness of the problem of access to abortion in Croatia.

On Tuesday, the group which reported Croatia said that “nothing has changed in Croatia since then” and women “continue to fear inhumane treatment.”

Although abortion is legal, doctors are allowed to be conscientious objectors, and with many doctors refusing to perform abortion in the largely Catholic country this means that many women, especially from rural areas and smaller towns, have no access to abortion locally.

“Croatia violated the current legislation on health measures to exercise of the right to the free decision on childbirth, as well as numerous international treaties on human rights,” Branka Mrzic-Jagatic from another group called Roda told a press conference ahead of Safe Abortion Day, observed on 28 September.

They requested that the UN investigates the Cavajda case for “violation of the right to access to basic sexual and reproductive health and rights – even though these are guaranteed by national legislation.”

Several civil society organizations associated with the initiative had sent an open letter to Prime Minister, Andrej Plenkovic, over the Cavajda case in May, when she went public with her experience with four Zagreb hospitals which refused to terminate her pregnancy despite severe fetal malformations.

The initiative requested urgent intervention to prevent the “torture of women in public hospitals” and to ensure accessible and safe health care for women in Croatia. More than 120 civil society organizations have sent requests to Health Minister, Vili Beros, urging “accessible, safe and legal abortions in Croatia.”

“The requirements have not been met and women continue to fear inhumane treatment and denial of the right to freely decide on the birth of children,” said Mrzic-Jagatic on Tuesday.

Although there are no penalties for this, the initiative said they believed that “humiliating Croatia would be sufficient punishment.”

Nearly 60 percent of gynaecologists resort to conscientious objection

Lana Bobic from one of the NGOs underscored that they had requested government institutions to urgently sanction of those responsible for not providing timely and appropriate care for Cavajda.

They called on Beros and Plenkovic to confirm that all women in Croatia will receive quality health care during pregnancy termination in accordance with the law, including modern medical procedures and modern international standards of the medical profession.

They also demanded the adoption of a new law on abortion, the publication of data on the capacities of all health institutions in Croatia related to abortion, and the establishment of a public register of health workers calling for conscientious objection.

Sanja Cesar from the Centre for Education, Counseling and Research warned that about 60 percent of gynaecologists use conscientious objection in Croatia and refuse to provide women with health care they are legally entitled to.

“Even after the Cavajda case, the practice remained the same in a large number of hospitals. Health staff are still using conscientious objection, and women are still facing the same obstacles,” Cesar said.

The initiative is seeking to ensure the availability of abortion to all women and for the costs to be covered by public health care, while ensuring a sufficient number of medical teams for abortions.