In 2023 Sarajevo Open Centre (SOC) carried out research on abortion regulation, availability and practice in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) which showed inconsistent access to abortion. Although abortion is legal on request up to 10 weeks, those seeking services still face many barriers. At the end of 2024 we decided to take a closer look at the stakeholders who oppose abortion care and/or advocate restrictions to abortion.
We found that in BiH there are now at least ten organizations and initiatives that want to influence women’s decisions about abortion. With domestic budgets, and the support of large international conservative organizations, they seek to reduce access to, or completely ban abortion.
Our new research analyses the activities of these actors, their methods of communication, and financing. These are individuals, formal and informal groups, and organizations that oppose the possibility of abortion on request, and some of them advocate for a ban through change in the law. In addition, they try to influence attitudes towards abortion among decision-makers or the public through the organization of public events, campaigns, protests or communication on social media. This communication is full of scientifically inaccurate and unfounded information, and the manipulation strategies they use intend to have a demotivating effect on the decision to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.
Anti-abortion groups are running counselling centres designed to dissuade women from having abortions.
These counselling centres look like a safe space for those with unwanted pregnancies. They promise not to judge anyone’s choices. But in practice, they appear to have ulterior motives.
For example, one of these centres measures its success by the number of “saved children”. The content shared on its social networks imposes a sense of guilt on women who decide to have an abortion.
“Glas za Život” (“Voice for Life”) explains on its website that their vision is to empower women and families through counselling on unplanned pregnancy, but the content on their social media indicates negative consequences of abortion and associated feelings of regret and shame.
After an investigation by a Detektor journalist, “Voice for Life” and its counselling centre changed the misleading scientific content on their websites. In addition, they deleted traces that connect them to one of the largest pro-life organizations in the world (Heartbeat International), which two prosecutors in the USA are accusing of providing misleading information. The link is clear, with the Director of “Voice for Life” stating that “Centers in the US are something we strive for… Our vision for Glas za Život is to share the message of life and the dignity of life and to educate women on options other than abortion, because abortion is very common here unfortunately.”
Anti-abortion groups are sharing false and misleading information.
The counselling centres often use terms such as ‘baby’ or child’, instead of medically correct ones (‘foetus’ or ‘embryo’), emphasizing the moment when the heart starts beating, in order to support their view of abortion as murder. They also convey experiences of women who regret going through abortions, without stating the contentment many feel for having had abortions they needed.
The most common claims of these groups are that abortion causes sterility, increases the possibility of breast cancer, cervical cancer, or severe forms of mental disorders, anxiety and depression.
Imagery is also often stigmatising or misleading. One example is a public billboard campaign which displayed an illustration of a baby holding a mother’s heart by the umbilical cord, with scissors underneath, and the words “Don’t give me away mother!”.
The anti-abortion movement in Bosnia and Herzegovina is linked to US based organisations working internationally.
Some of the mapped organisations are financed by the state and local budgets, while others look up to and are connected to well-financed international organisations whose ultimate goal is to make access to abortion more difficult.
Some groups are connected to American organisations such as Heartbeat International and Save One, that use similar narratives.
Marko Topić, linked with an anti-choice organisation named Mlado Sunce, is also the leader of the ’40 Days for Life’ initiative in BiH. This is a global anti-abortion campaign, started in Texas in 2004, which encourages people to pray outside of abortion clinics for 40 days to ‘end abortion’.
The influence of these organisations is growing stronger, because the authorities are using them or giving them legitimacy, to spread retrograde ideas and influence the public. One Ministry of Health (Canton 10) even goes so far as to call abortion a “diabolical act” that should be forever forbidden by law. This goes hand in hand with the healthcare providers, medical doctors and nurses, who refuse to perform abortions based on conscientious objection.
Along with our partners, we are working to uncover unethical practices, and advocate for stigma free, accessible abortion care across the country.
To find out more view the full research report here .
By Delila Hasanbegović Vukas, Programme Coordinator at Sarajevo Open Cente, a SAAF grantee partner in Bosnia and Herzegovina.