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Photos: Demonstration against abortion restrictions at the Hungarian Parliament
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The demonstration was organised by NGOs on World Day for Safe Access to Abortion. Most of the speakers protested against the so-called “heartbeat” decree passed in mid-September.
In the middle of September, a new addition has been made to the abortion application form: obstetrician-gynaecologists examining women seeking an abortion must now record that a clearly identifiable indication of fetal vital signs has been presented to their patients. This has – understandably – angered and horrified many people.
The importance of free contraception and sex education
On Wednesday evening, the Patent Association (Patent Egyesület) and the NGO aHang announced a protest against the amendment of the abortion law on Kossuth Square in Budapest. The demonstration gathered a crowd of several thousand people, mostly young people, who marched to the Ministry of Interior building after the speeches, Telex reports. After the official end of the event, which was punctuated by chants, the majority left the scene peacefully.
“The government is trying to make sure that women have no choice and have to give birth even if they don’t want to,” said the protest outside Parliament. Protesters say the aim is to humiliate women and that there are other ways to reduce the number of abortions, such as making contraception more accessible and making sex education viable in the country.
“My uterus, my body”
After the speeches, around 7:15, the crowd headed towards the Ministry of Interior via Academy Street. Here they built a “monument” to Sándor Pintér, which presumably the Minister can only see in pictures, because they had to dismantle the structure themselves. “My uterus, my body”, protesters chanted. Meanwhile, a few minutes before 7.30 PM, the marchers arrived at the Interior Ministry building, where they were met by police.
They began to place the hangers in front of the fenced-in ministry building – the organisers had earlier asked everyone to bring a hanger, which is the brutal symbol of abortion performed at home.
As Mr. Orbán likes to remind us: „only parents should be the ones to decide on the sex education of their children”. We modeled part of this on the Russian federal law “for the Purpose of Protecting Children from Information Advocating a Denial of Traditional Family Values” also known as the Gay Propaganda Law. Fine piece of legislation drafted by a regime our Politicians have this „pragmatic” relationship with.
Who needs progress when you can go back tried and true ways to the good old days?