Debates continue about the draft law on reproductive health in Kosovo

2024-03-10 21:20:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The draft law on reproductive health and artificial insemination failed to be approved in the Kosovo parliament, sparking many debates due to disagreements about some articles that allow individuals, and not necessarily only husband and wife couples, to have children through the widely recognized method of widely as IVF.

"Previously, in the first version, it was proposed that an unmarried woman be given the right to receive reproductive cells, now the opportunity is given to the individual who also belongs to the male gender. In this way, the problem is expanding even further because the individuals can be of the same gender", said Visar Korenica from the ruling Vetëvendosje movement in the February 22 session.

The language used in parliament and in the media by those who oppose this bill has been strongly condemned by civil society organizations, describing it as hateful and discriminatory against women and members of the LGBTI community.

The group for women's rights "We march, we don't celebrate" protested in front of the Kosovo parliament building against the deputies who oppose this draft law. The organizers of the protest, calling for the approval of this draft law, said that the discussions about it so far have been inhumane to women and accompanied by propaganda and lies by the deputies, for patriarchal and electoral purposes.

Adelina Berisha from the Women's Network of Kosovo, said in a conversation with the Voice of America that with the disapproval of this draft law, the poor are being discriminated against, given that the IVF method in Kosovo is only used in private clinics.

"So IVF can be done in rich families by women and men who have the financial means, but this is being denied to poor families, poor women and poor men who want to use it as a means to create a family with children . Maybe (MPs) should be a little more honest and show if their intention is to preserve this traditional family or if it is to preserve the interests of private hospitals", she says.

One of the deputies who is against this draft law, Albena Reshitaj, told the Voice of America that it has some shortcomings, stressing that it creates opportunities for marriages between people of the same blood line.

"What I have requested is that the section where the child born with IVF after the age of maturity has the right to know his genetic parent should be added to Article 22, the first point precisely on the protection of data confidentiality ", she says.

Ms. Reshitaj says that another worrying aspect of this draft law is the lack of appropriate sanctions for those who may misuse this procedure.

"In this draft law, for me, these sanctions are not at the level they should be, given the possibility of numerous misuses that are made. When we talk about such a sensitive issue, it means that there should be much stricter measures. Otherwise, all these concerns and my requests do not coincide with sexism, racism or anything else, but there is a tendency of certain groups to completely divert this issue", she says.

The Minister of Health, Arben Vitia, has not responded to the interest of the Voice of America to discuss this draft law. But in an appearance before journalists, he assessed the debates about him as exaggerated and with many misunderstandings.

"We have accepted some amendments from some deputies of the position and the opposition, we have evaluated some and adapted them for the second reading, but some others are problematic because they completely lose both the reasonableness and the meaning of our attempt to make a law which will it enabled many couples and many women in Kosovo to have a good process in the public system and not spend thousands of euros as is happening today not only in Kosovo but also outside Kosovo", said Mr. Vitia.

The bill on reproductive health and IVF was passed in first reading after much effort in October last year, with 63 votes in favour, one against and four abstentions. Meanwhile, last Thursday, the parliament again failed to vote in the second reading of this draft law due to the lack of quorum./ VOA