Hungary may ban abortion

Victor Orban: "What do we care if women die, Your Holiness?"

Hungary may write a new constitution that bans abortion. Women will die. Ratzinger will applaud. Women will die.

Life must be protected from the moment of conception, Hungary’s ruling party said in a draft of the country’s new constitution that would effectively introduce a complete ban on abortion after several decades of liberal laws.

Pope Benedict XVI earlier in December told the Hungarian ambassador it was “desirable that the new constitution be inspired by Christian values, particularly in what concerns the position of marriage and the family in society and the protection of life.” The pontiff’s wishes are reflected well in the governing Fidesz party’s proposal, which — in additional to mirroring papal teaching on abortion — says marriage is “the most natural community of man and woman.”

Hungary’s new constitution — even though irritating for those who believe in women’s freedom of choice or fail to see any danger in gay marriage — could be interpreted as a response to the country’s population decline, which strains the pension system.

The article goes on:

On abortion and same-sex marriage, Hungary seems to be going the road Poland took in the 1990s. Poland’s constitution, adopted in 1997, mentions marriage as the opposite-sex union and states that life is protected from conception to natural death.... An illegal abortion market flourishes in Poland. When a private doctor isn’t an option in Poland, abortion tourism is — Germany, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands are among the most popular destinations for the more affluent, while the Baltic States for those with scarce resources.