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Date: 14 Feb 1996 12:27:38
Reply-To: Conference "zamir.chat" 
From: kajosevi@newschool.edu
Subject: URGENT ON PROLIFE IN CROATIA!!! -Forwarded
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From: INDIRA KAJOSEVIC 
Subject:  URGENT ON PROLIFE IN CROATIA!!! -Forwarded

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Date: 12 Feb 1996 19:38:13 (LOCAL)
Reply-To: Conference "women.east-west" 
From: eastwest@ywd.antenna.nl
Subject: URGENT ON PROLIFE IN CROATIA!!!
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Dear East/West discussion list users,
Dear Women Clinic Defense conference users,
Dear Tom Burghardt,

First of all let me introduce myself - my name is Ivana Balen, I'm of
mixed SerboCroatian origin and I was active with women's and antiwar
groups in Belgrade and Zagreb in the period of 1989-1993. I am
currently in Amsterdam, with Young Women and Democracy Programme.

I wish to react on following message:
========================================
> With roots in the fascist Ustasha government of Nazi
> collaborators and clerical fascists, the present Croatian
> government is launching a concerted attack on women's rights.  I
> received the text below from a Croatian contact; it makes for
> chilling reading.  I am writing her to check whether Human Life
> International has provided "technical assistance" to the Tudjman
> government.  I'll keep you posted...Oh yes, BTW, the Tudjman
> regime is strongly supported by the "liberal, pro-choice" Clinton
> administration.  USAID funds flow freely.
>
> Tom Burghardt,
> Bay Area Coalition for Our Reproductive Rights
==========================================


While I agree personally that pro-lifers are fascist, I have to ask
everybody NOT TO USE SUCH LANGUAGE IN THIS CAMPAIGN. The word
USTASHA has, since outbreak of war in Croatia, changed its meaning.
The Serbian regime war propaganda uses USTASHA to signify ALL Croats,
in the same way that Croatian regime war propaganda uses word CHETNIK
to refer to ALL Serbs. The words do not signify II world war
extremist forces any more.


Please don't use such words. It can be counterproductive for this
campaign - you will simply make Croatian people on the defensive and
we'll spend more time discussing vocabulary, II world war, who's
agressor and who "started it all"  than discussing the
abortion campaign. I know it's difficult to be all the time
politically correct but we should be aware of sensitive points.


Also please don't identify all Croatian citizens or all Croats
with the government which, I agree, is fascist (Tudjman LOST last
elections in both Zagreb and Split, two of the most important towns;
former Communists won, which shows citizens actively disagree with
official policy). Same goes for identification of Serbs with their
government.

Short history: my first encounter with pro-life campaigns
in what is now former Yugoslavia was in 1989 when anti-abortion
actions appeared simultaneously in Croatia and in Serbia. Same
language and justifications were used for proposed restrictions of
the law in both republics. Pro-life materials which were then
distributed throughout the country were coming from PRO-LIFE
organizations in USA; Croatian translations were printed in Slavonska
Pozega (see BABE report about gynecologists in Slavonia as especially
difficult region!). In other words, PROLIFErs of USA were involved
already in 1989 (we should also mention that there were PRO-CHOICE
from USA helping women's groups in Belgrade).

Well we managed somehow to fend that one. Then came "free elections"
in 1990. Not surprisingly, most of new parties were right-wing.
Abortion was questioned in Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia. Same sentences
were used in right-wing parties of Croatia and Serbia to justify
prolife proposals (always "dying out of nation" with some enemy
lurking behind). Serbia even saw sentences like "it's easier for women
to give birth to children than for men to go to war and die". In
Belgrade we had to fight off famous "program of Dr Kneitner", which
also suggested pension for women with lots of children etc, similar to
Croatian proposals from BABE report.

[I actually wrote about comparisons between new parties in Croatia
and Serbia, spring 1990; if anyone's interested I'll put
English translation on the list]

All major religions in former Yugoslav countries, Catholic, Ortodox
and Muslim, are against abortion. All religious leaders are talking
more openly about it now - we have never had so many religious
fundamentalists before. However, as Ortodox priests are themselves
married, they might be slightly less insistent on the issue than
their Catholic colleagues.

Pro-life campaigns in former Yugoslavia show clearly that PRO-LIFE is
actually AGAINST life: while protecting ethnically clean or in other
way "proper" embryos, it activelly encourages wars and killing of "the
Other". They openly project these babies as future soldiers.

The way I see it - all pro-life campaigns are supporting each other.
So let us not create false divisions by using problem words such as
USTASHA or CHETNIK. Let us all help Croatian women now because we can
really make the difference for them! And then, if need be, we will be
there to help any other women in the similar situation.

We decided to do the following with Young Women and Democracy
Programme in Amsterdam:
- we have enlisted BABE appeal for support as most important of our
actions planned for Local Action Day for 8th March;
- a copy of petition (BABE agreed with the text) was sent throughout
our network;
- we have contacted few women's groups, health centers, international
women's information center for support; chances are that the petition
will be placed in their locations, for all visitors to sign;
- we plan to continue contacting different women's centers.

There's so much we can do. It is great to have e-mail, to reach you:
back in 1990 in Belgrade the only thing we had for campaign were self-
made stickers (from self-adhesive wall paper, we wrote with marker
pens) and standing for hours with petitions in the street, a typed
explanation glued into a notebook (am I getting emotional?)
I feel so much more powerful today!

So best greetings to you all - thanks for existing.

                              for YWD, "Bg/Zg network"
                              Ivana Balen




To contact us:
    ywd@antenna.nl
    ivana@ywd.antenna.nl

Young Women and Democracy Programme
P.O.BOX 92066
1090 AB Amsterdam, Netherlands
tel/fax +31 20 692 58 13
tel     +31 20 663 31 19


================== HERE FOLLOWS OUR PETITION ================
IF YOU LIKE THE TEXT FEEL FREE TO USE IT; BABE AGREED WITH IT.
=============================================================

to                                                          fax:
Mr Franjo Tudjman, President of Croatia            +385 1 44 30 75
Croatian Government                                +385 1 27 70 82
President of the Croatian Parliament               +385 1 44 35 22
The Croatian Parliament (Human Rights Committee)   +385 1 44 36 66
SDP (Social Democratic Party)                      +385 1 45 528 42
HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union)                    +385 1 45 526 00

SUPPORT TO CROATIAN WOMEN'S RIGHT TO LEGAL AND SAFE ABORTION



Dear Sir/Madam

we wish to express our deep concern over the latest
infringements of women's human rights in Croatia. The news
that in this century women's rights to safe and free abortion
could be contested are indeed disturbing.

The Platform for Action, adopted at the United Nations Fourth
World Conference on Women in Beijing as elementary document
for women's advancement in countries around the world, states
that each year 100,000 women die from unsafe abortions due to
lack of access to contraceptives and legal, safe termination
of pregnancy.

The Program for Demographic Development which is currently
discussed in Croatia offers nothing that the world has not
seen before: often with catastrophic consequences. Whenever
women have been denied the right to safe and legal abortion,
the only demographic change that happened was an increase in
women's mortality. NATIONAL BIRTH RATE HAS NEVER RAISED
AS RESULT OF PROHIBITION OF ABRTION OR CONTRACEPTIVES. The
example of Romania during Communist time tells it all.

We feel that nothing can justify infringement of basic human
rights. Interests of state or nation cannot be placed above
lives and health of women. Croatian women have the same basic
human rights as women of the world. We are willing to support
them in their struggle to keep those rights.

Therefore we urge:

Mr Franjo Tudjman, President of Croatia;
members of Croatian government;
President of the Croatian Parliament;
members of Human Rights Committee of Croatian Parliament;
members of Social Democratic Party
and members of Croatian Democratic Union

to do all that is in their power to keep basic women's rights
to safe abortion and access to contraceptives legal.

                                                 With respect

Name     Organisation/profession      Country     Signature





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