Macedonia Court Throws out Abortion Challenge

Macedonia's Constitutional Court has rejected a challenge to the changed law on terminations, adopted in September 2013, saying the changes do not prohibit abortion but only regulate the procedures.
 
Several NGOs had submitted complaints to the Constitutional Court, arguing that the new requirements put undue physical, administrative and time-related pressure on pregnant women.
 
The changes oblige women to file requests for abortions, attend counselling, inform "spouses" of their intention and meet a gynaecologist.
 
The change to the law further prohibits women from having a second abortion within a year.
 
However, the court made clear its lack of sympathy with the NGOs' complaints.
 
Judge Sali Murati told the court on Thursday that he was "totally against abortion", maintaining that it was "not an exclusive right of the mother.
 
"It also concerns the father, the wider family and the society," he said. "We should protect the unborn child, whose life begins when the embryo is formed," he added.
 
Noting that there were more terminations than births in Macedonia 30,000 as opposed to 24,000 - he added: "If this trend continues, the mankind will come to an end."
 
Judge Natasha Gaber Damjanovska, on the other hand, criticized the changes made to the law, saying it placed new limits on the women's right to choose.
 
"This law discriminates against pregnant women," she said. "They should not need to seek permission from committees on such a very intimate and sensitive question."
 
Her vote was not enough, however. The majority of the judges in the court voted for the law to stay as it is, guided by article 42 of the constitution, which says the state has a duty to protect motherhood...