Since Thursday, a decree obliges Hungarian women who wish to have an abortion to listen to the beats of fetal heart.
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Pass of arms in Strasbourg. The European Parliament sharply criticized Hungary on Thursday 15 September, calling the country a “hybrid regime of electoral autocracy”. Harsh terms that follow a series of controversial laws wanted by the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, and his powerful far-right party, Fidesz. Latest controversy to date: a decree that came into force on Thursday forces women wishing to have an abortion to listen to the beats of heart of foetus before continuing, or not, their abortion.
MEPs adopted by an overwhelming majority (433 votes for, 123 votes against, 28 abstentions) a report presented by the French ecologist MEP Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield. This text marks Parliament’s concern on 12 themes, such as the independence of justice, freedom of expression or the autonomy of academics – which are not respected, even threatened in Hungary, judge the parliamentarians.
On Twitter, MEP Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield welcomed of the adoption of its report on the rule of law in Hungary. “The conclusions are clear: one of our member states is no longer a democracy”, she said. During the session, the elected official had castigated the espionage of journalists, a “infamous law” against LGBT+ people but also the recent tightening of abortion conditions.
The decree forcing pregnant women to be presented “the vital functions of the fetus” – as it is officially phrased – drew the ire of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). “This obligation has no medical utility and only serves to humiliate women”the organization said in a statement Thursday.
In 2018, the European Parliament initiated a procedure against Hungary for “risk of serious breach of European values” – with reference to Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union – which can in principle go as far as to deprive the country of its right to vote in the Council. Access to abortion remains fragile in Europe, with growing fears in Hungary but also in Poland and Slovakia.