Thousands take part in Croatia’s annual March for Life

Thousands of people gathered on Saturday in the Croatian capital, Zagreb, for the country’s annual March for Life.

The sixth national Walk for Life took place on May 29 with the motto “For the protection of every human life — without discrimination.”

Andreja Kotnik, co-ordinator of the event in Zagreb, said that participants took part in the walk to promote support for mothers in need and protection for unborn children.

“We walked for the social, legal, and all other ways of protection of the unborn child, who is a separate human being that grows in his mother’s body, kicks, feels pain, but also smiles,” she said.

“The right to life is a fundamental human right. We want to live in a state where laws protect the right to life of every human being, from conception to natural death.”

Croatia is a country of nearly four million people bordering Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. More than 80% of the population are baptized Catholics.

Abortion is legal until the 10th week of pregnancy in Croatia under a law passed in 1978 when the country was part of communist Yugoslavia.

Events inspired by the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., are spreading throughout Europe, including in Italy and the U.K.

Luka Hudinčec, another organizer of the event, said that marchers wanted to express their solidarity with women who do not receive support from their families or society during crisis pregnancies.

“Research shows that 75% of women who have had an abortion say they did it for economic reasons or pressure from the family,” he said.