A cardiotocography (CTG) device records the heart rate of an unborn baby. Photo: EPA-EFE/SASCHA STEINBACH

Croatia’s Minister of Health, Milan Kujundzic, has retained his position after a no-confidence vote on Friday failed to unseat him.

However, MP Ivana Nincevic Lesandric’s personal story of having an abortion in a Croatian hospital, which she shared in parliament on Thursday, has revived a public debate on the state of women’s health care.

Nincevic Lesandric, from the centre-right MOST [Bridge] party, explained the “extremely painful” procedure she underwent in which doctors allegedly tied her hands and legs before performing a curettage to remove tissues from inside the uterus – without anesthesia. She described the conditions as from the “15th century”.

“This was the 30 most painful minutes of my life,” Nincevic Lesandric added, claiming that many Croatian women have experienced this.

“I sincerely regret that the loss of a child occurred,” Kujundzic said, saying that he did not know the specific data about this procedure, but added that “it does not work like that in Croatian hospitals”.

Iva Davorija and Marinella Matejcic from the Platform for Women’s Reproductive Rights said on Friday that Croatian society’s traditional and patriarchal values made it hard to talk in public about reproductive rights outside the context of giving birth.

They were referring to the reaction of Parliament Speaker Goran Jandrokovic, who during Thursday’s session told Nincevic Lesandric that she was talking about “an intimate thing” and that she had put him into “a very uncomfortable situation.”

“The fact that the speaker of parliament allows himself to condemn the personal, intimate story of Ivana Nincevic Lesandric, and to place himself as a victim of the whole situation, is confirmation of the earlier claims of a traditional patriarchal society,” Matejcic said.

“Croatia is also an incredibly disordered state,” Davorija told BIRN.

She said Kujundzic should long ago “have taken responsibility for his own sector and perhaps even stepped down”.

She said also that Prime Minister Andrej] Plenkovic ought to “show a minimum of interest in what is happening in parliament, while the speaker of parliament should know how to gauge when it is time to rely on the rulebook, and when there is an urgent need to start work on solving a major problem.”

Danijela Drandic, from the NGO Parents in action – Roda, which advocates dignified pregnancy, parenthood and childhood, told BIRN that her organisation does not know how often such situations occur, but from women’s testimonies to the organisation, they see that the problem of gynecological procedures being performed without anesthesia is widespread, although it all depends on the hospital.

Drandic pointed to the need to inform women better about procedures and give them a choice, saying this is not the only procedure when anesthesia is denied or when giving anesthesia is not even raised.

“I would emphasize that, [although] here it is a case of pregnancy loss, there is a problem in all spheres of women’s reproductive health: when pregnancy is wanted, when pregnancy is unwanted … when she is giving birth, and after childbirth”, she said.

While interlocutors told BIRN said that Nincevic Lesandric’s case was not isolated, the reaction from parliament’s representatives also sparked anger from Croatian women on social networks.

“Hats off to this courageous woman,” one Facebook user said.

Another thanked Nincevic Lesandric for sharing her story, adding that she hoped the MP would “go bravely ahead in the fight for better accessibility and comprehensive healthcare”.

Read more:

Croatians March in Defence of Abortion Rights

Croatian Activists Up Fight to Defend Abortion Rights

Balkan Conservatives Unite at Family Congress in Moldova