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Hungary to scrap fetal heartbeat rule, ease emergency contraception
Prime Minister Peter Magyar said Hungary will drop a 2022 fetal-heartbeat abortion requirement, allow over-the-counter emergency contraception and move to ratify the Istanbul Convention, DW reported.
Hungary's government said Thursday it will drop a 2022 requirement that women seeking abortions be shown a sign of fetal life, ease access to emergency contraception and move to ratify a European treaty on violence against women1.
Prime Minister Peter Magyar presented the steps as a break with conservative policies of former Prime Minister Viktor Orban1.
Hungarian law still allows most abortions up to 12 weeks, and up to 24 weeks in cases of severe developmental abnormalities1. Until now, women were required to have a medical provider show evidence of a definitive sign of fetal life, commonly understood as a fetal heartbeat, before deciding whether to have an abortion1. DW also said women would no longer be forced to listen to the fetus's vital signs1.
DW said the 2022 policy had received widespread criticism from doctors and women's rights groups as cruel and humiliating1. Magyar said the policy had not led to a decline in abortions and had raised "serious bioethical questions"1.
Women would also be able to obtain emergency contraceptive pills without a prescription1. Further measures include changing the criminal code, including making misuse of intimate images a criminal offense and strengthening how domestic-violence victims are treated in criminal proceedings1.
Hungary also plans to ratify the Istanbul Convention, a 2014 Council of Europe treaty that, among other things, requires rape to be criminalized based on the absence of freely given consent1. Magyar said, "We are making it clear that sexual acts can only take place with the voluntary consent of the other party"1.
Orban's government had opposed the treaty, arguing it promoted what it described as gender ideology1. Magyar also said, "We are making a clear and accountable commitment to putting an end to the era of inaction," according to DW1. DW said that among EU members, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Slovakia have also not yet ratified it1.
The announcements describe planned legal and treaty steps; DW did not say parliament had already enacted the changes1.
Sources
How it’s being reported
2 sources
Hungary eases abortion rules
Break with Orban-era policy, the heartbeat rule's medical and rights criticism, and remaining EU holdouts on the Istanbul Convention.
Hungary's new government said it will scrap the 2022 heartbeat requirement, allow emergency contraception without a prescription and ratify the Istanbul Convention.
Leaves out Menstrual-poverty measures and restraining-order changes noted by Reuters.
Hungary eases abortion rules in women's rights overhaul
Gives this outlet’s account of the story.