Politics
Wednesday November 22, 2006
Slovenia Considers Pulling Public Abortion Funding
TODAY'S HEADLINES
E-MAIL
PRINT
By Hilary White
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia November 22, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The small south-central European country of Slovenia is suffering from a low birth rate and a government minister has suggested financial restrictions on abortion as a remedy.
Slovenian Minister for Labour, Family and Social Affairs, Janez Drobnic, suggested that the state’s public health system should only pay for abortions if the mother’s life would be threatened by giving birth.
“According to the constitution, human life is untouchable and we believe the state is not obliged to give financial support for an abortion,” said a statement from Drobnic. Reuters reported that the government of Slovenia is looking at ways to tackle the country’s low birth rate.
United Nations documents show that Slovenia allows and pays for abortion under any or all circumstances including “foetal impairment,” the “mental health” of the woman or simply on request.
The 1991 Constitution of Slovenia says, “the decision to bear one’s own children is free”, a change from the former Yugoslav constitution which said, “it is a human right freely to decide on the birth of children.” The alteration raised concerns among abortion proponents that the new government had the intention of modifying the abortion law.
Slovenia, part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia before independence in1991, has a dangerously low birth rate of 1.25 children per woman and suffers from a shrinking and aging population.
In common with with many post-Christian European countries, the median age of men in Slovenia is 39 years and 42.2 years for women. Demographers have warned that those countries with low birth rates and high median female age face eventual population implosion as fewer and fewer children are able to be conceived. 15.7% of the population is over 65 years.
Back to TopLatest Headlines
- US Congress Passes Health Care Reform Bill 220 - 215
- Stupak Amendment to Health Care Bill Passes 240 - 194 Saturday Evening
- NY Times: Dems Banking on Later Squeezing Pro-Life Language Out of Bill in Committee
- USCCB Spokesman: "Definitely Not True" that Bishops Support Bill As it Stands
- TIME Got it Wrong - Prof. George Opposed Grandiose Kennedy Funeral
- Major Health Care Development - Pro-Life Stupak Amendment Vote OK'd for Saturday
- USCCB Condemnation Tears Facade off "Phony" Abortion Compromise for Health Bill
- Health Care Bill Includes Monthly Abortion Premium: House Minority Leader Boehner
- TIME Article Setting Burke Against O'Malley Called "Tactical strike" on Behalf of Catholic Left
- Dirty Fighting on Abortion Funding: Word-Games and Health-Care Theatrics Boggle the Mind
- Commentary on November 6 News
- Note to LifeSiteNews Subscribers with Rogers email addresses
- New York Gov. Declares Nov. 10 Extraordinary Legislative Session for Same-Sex "Marriage"
- Washington's Pro-Family Amendment Effort Defeated - R-71 Almost Certain to Pass
- Vote Pushed Back on Canadian Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide Bill to Dec. 2
- Elderly U.K. Couple in Good Health Commit Suicide, Complain of Assisted Suicide Law
- Texas Late-Term Abortionist and Baptist Minister Admits: "Am I killing? Yes, I am"
- New Evidence Contradicts CCHD's Findings on Accused Pro-Abortion Partner
- Quebec Priest Denies Possibility of Sexual Reorientation Therapy on TV
- New Hampshire Same-Sex "Marriage" Law in Crosshairs after Maine's Law Crumbles
- Brooklyn Bishop Criticized for Recorded Message Praising Pro-Abortion Politician
- First Group of "Traditionalist" Anglicans in Britain Votes to Enter Catholic Church
Most Read this Week
- Planned Parenthood Director Resigns after Watching Ultrasound of Abortion Procedure
- Nun Defiant Following Rebuke, but Stops Abortion Escorting
- Breaking: Dominican Community Apologizes for Nun Caught Acting as Abortion Escort
- TIME Article Setting Burke Against O'Malley Called "Tactical strike" on Behalf of Catholics Left
- Over 200 Christendom College Students Protest Abortion at Planned Parenthood Clinic
- US Congress Passes Health Care Reform Bill 218 to 215
- Newly Identified Corporate Supporters of Planned Parenthood Named
- Scottish Gay Rights Activists Found Guilty of Pedophilia Sentenced to Life Imprisonment
- Major Health Care Bill Development - Stupak Hyde Amendment Vote OK'd
- Health Care Bill Includes Monthly Abortion Premium: House Minority Leader Boehner
MORE NEWS: 
LifeSiteNews.com Home Page Last 10 Days Archives Special Reports
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.