Hungary to force women to listen to ‘foetal heartbeat’ before they can have an abortion

Decree says women requesting abortion to be made to hear ‘clearly identifiable indication of foetal vital signs’

Women in Hungary seeking an abortion will be forced to listen to the “foetal heartbeat” before undergoing the procedure, according to a new decree by the nation’s right-wing government.

Under the order, which comes into effect from Thursday, healthcare providers will be required to provide pregnant women requesting an abortion with “a clearly identifiable indication of foetal vital signs”.

The sign of a foetus’s vital functions is often associated with a heartbeat.

Doctors and critics fear the new obligation put forward by nationalist prime minister Viktor Orbán will tighten the country’s relatively liberal abortion rules. The procedure was legalised during the country’s socialist era in 1953.

“Nearly two-thirds of Hungarians associate the beginning of a child’s life with the first heartbeat,” Hungary’s interior ministry said in a statement.

Modern equipment can detect heartbeats early in pregnancy which can provide “more comprehensive information for pregnant women”, the ministry added.

Since coming to power in 2010, the country’s nationalist government has pushed “traditional family values” and offered tax breaks and subsidies for families that have multiple children to boost the country’s dwindling birth rate.

In 2011, the government enshrined in the constitution that “the life of a foetus will be protected from conception”, without actively tightening abortion laws. Mr Orban in 2019 announced that women with four children would be exempt from paying income tax for life.

The existing abortion law allows women to terminate pregnancies in the first 12 weeks on medical or social grounds. But exceptions allow the termination to be carried out up to 24 weeks.

Dora Duro, a lawmaker with the radical right-wing party Our Homeland, took credit for the new order.

“This is the first pro-life move since the regulation of abortion in 1956, breaking a decades-old taboo,” Ms Duro wrote on Facebook.

The law around abortions “is not set in stone in a Christian country worthy of the name. Let’s write history”, the lawmaker added.

The order was criticised by doctors and some opposition members.

The Hungarian Medical Chamber reportedly said the changes in procedure violate its ethical code founded on the protection of life.

The opposition Jobbik party welcomed the “pro-life” change while criticising the government for the abrupt degree without consultation.

The Parbeszed party – the more liberal opposition – said the changes were unacceptable and urged the interior minister to withdraw the decree.

“This amendment not only restricts the right of pregnant women to terminate their pregnancies, but it creates an extremely onerous and unnecessarily cruel situation for all involved as well as doctors,” it said in a statement.