A “baby box” for abandoned babies in Croatia has been called a “Trojan horse” by pro-abortion groups outraged by the initiative of a pro-life group and Catholic nuns. “We are continuing an ancient Croatian tradition of preserving the value of human life”, said the Bethlehem-Zagreb Association responsible for the box.
“A Window of Life” appeared on a convent wall in a suburb of Zagreb last February. “It is aimed at saving lives and preventing infanticide”, said Alberta Vrdoljak, the head of the Bethlehem-Zagreb Association that set it up.
Motion detectors built into the box are designed to notify the convent nuns and pro-life group via mobile if the box door has been opened. It is located at the Monastery of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Association website states: “With the Window of Life, we express respect for the highest value – human life. To provide the possibility and opportunity for mothers who have been forced by existence to make a difficult decision, not to commit infanticide…
“Our goal is to protect the most vulnerable and create an opportunity for abandoned children to find a new life. In modern society, we want to provide a safe space, a refuge for a newborn whose mother, due to various life problems, cannot keep her in her living space.”
“Society needs such a place, offering a solution for cases which are rare but do exist”, a member of pro-life group explained.
Last year, a newborn baby boy was dumped in a bin near Zagreb, which the Association points to as a reason why their baby box is needed. The boy survived after being found by passersby.
However, one Croatian citizen interviewed by Agence France-Presse did not like the idea of a “baby box”, saying it was only there “to make women feel bad about abortion”.
The Women’s Network Croatia, which has called for the removal of the box, said it was “illegal, dangerous and against child’s best interest”.
Helenca Pirnat Dragicevic, children’s ombudswoman in Croatia, even suggested that a UN convention guaranteeing a child’s right to know their identity raises a legal and ethical issue, a claim rubbished by Aleksandra Korac Graovac, a professor of law at Zagreb University.
“The right to life trumps the right to information on origins”, said Professor Graovac. “The child without a secured right to life does not hold any other right.”
“It’s about an alternative to infanticide”, Vrdoljak of the Bethlehem-Zagreb Association added.
Baby boxes are known to exist in at least ten European countries, as well as in China, India, Japan and the United States.
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