Successful day in parliament, coalition rejoices: Hospital reform passed, Záborská’s abortion law got a stop – Topky.sk

The bill was supported by almost all OĽANO deputies, except for eight, and several abstained. The SaS club was against. Most of the deputies from the We Are Family supported the proposal, Boris Kollár, Zuzana Šebová and Petra Krištúfková were against. The bill was also supported by non-attached deputies around Tomáš Taraba, as well as by deputies from the People’s Party except Alexandra Pivková, who was against. The deputies of Smer-SD mostly abstained, the proposal was supported by Vladimír Faič, Marián Kéry and Juraj Blanár. All deputies for ĽSNS supported the proposal.

The legislation, tabled by MEPs from OĽANO and We are a family, also said that pregnant mothers could also use the emergency housing facility during pregnancy and three years after childbirth if they took care of the child personally.

The abortion period was to be extended from 48 to 96 hours. The deputies justified this by saying that a woman could calmly and without time pressure think about the decision to terminate her pregnancy artificially. MEPs also wanted to introduce a special allowance of EUR 3170.14 for the birth of a child with a disability. They also wanted to introduce the so-called stroller in full for the fourth child in the family.

Source: Topky / Maarty

The law should have given the woman the opportunity to request the secrecy of her person in connection with childbirth. The law also included the renaming of abortion to abortion, as well as a ban on abortion.

One voice was missing

After the vote, Záborská stated that one vote was missing for the law to pass. He believes that when society talks about helping the disabled or needy, it will not forget the families or women who “decide at a very critical moment whether to deliver a child or have an abortion.” Non-parliamentary Progressive Slovakia (PS) welcomed the disapproval of the proposal. Simona Petrík from PS stated that women in Slovakia would need more accessible contraception and improved health care.

Source: SITA / Alexandra Čunderlíková

Záborská’s proposal was also criticized by Amnesty International. In the opinion, she stated that women and girls who want or need to undergo the abortion to which they are legally entitled are already facing several harmful obstacles in Slovakia. Following the approval of the proposal, according to the organization, the obstacles would increase. The proposal, on the other hand, was supported by dozens of young people who said in a letter that the law did not directly limit the availability of abortions, “but mainly provided support mechanisms for pregnant women in need.” The proposal also divided doctors and paramedics into two camps. Some issued a letter of support for the law, while others openly criticized it.

The non-parliamentary KDH thinks that it is unfortunate that not enough deputies were found in the National Council of the Slovak Republic so that “Slovakia could help pregnant women more”. “On the contrary, the more moderate bill was accompanied by a disproportionate debate, directed by the Liberals and the Progressives, who turned it into a political weapon.” the movement stated in the opinion.

They moved hospital reform to second reading

Hospital reform goes to second reading. This was decided by the deputies of the National Council (NR) of the Slovak Republic, who in Thursday’s vote supported the bill on the categorization of institutional health care from the workshop of the Ministry of Health (MH) of the Slovak Republic. There were 76 out of 145 deputies present, 68 against, no abstentions and one deputy.

Source: Topky / Maarty

According to the reform, hospitals should operate at five levels – community, regional, comprehensive, terminal and national. This should create an optimized network of hospitals. The hospitals that will be on the list should be entitled to reimbursement from public health insurance. The Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic emphasizes that no hospital will be closed down. The beds, which remained unused before the pandemic, are to be transformed within a few years, based on precise analyzes and data, to another type of care that many patients today lack and therefore find it difficult to return to their normal lives.

According to the ministry, doctors, nurses and other health professionals will work with the new devices in larger teams, where they will be better able to manage the patient’s health complications. The reform should increase the safety and quality of healthcare.

OĽANO, SaS and Za lidí welcome the shift in hospital reform

Prime Minister Eduard Heger (OĽANO) and Minister of Health Vladimír Lengvarský (OĽAON nominee), together with representatives of SaS and Za lidí, thanked the deputies who postponed the hospital reform to the second reading on Thursday. They talk about a step towards improving health care. He also believes in the success of the reform in the second reading.

“Health is of the utmost value to each of us,” the prime minister said, adding that it was also a top priority for his government and this parliament. He called the deputies who supported her heroes. He argues that the legislative change is intended to bring better health care. He also thanked the current Minister of Health, who presented the reform, and ex-Minister Marek Krajčí (OĽANO), who, according to him, started the change.

Source: Topky / Maarty

Lengvarsky promised to continue reform and negotiations with the regions with his team. He declared that they would work to bring people what they promised, better health care. Krajčí is glad that they managed to win money for this purpose from the package of funds from the renewal fund. “We want to invest in every single hospital. We are not going to disrupt hospitals. On the contrary, the reform is intended to bring better patient care,” declared. Jana Bittó Cigániková (SaS) understands citizens’ concerns about change, but talks about change for the better. Juraj Šeliga (For the People) stated that 76 deputies made the right decision on Thursday when they voted for better health care. He also thanked the unclassified colleagues who were among them.

According to Pellegrini, the result will be less affordable care in the regions

On the other hand, the leader of the non-parliamentary Voice-SD and non-attached MP Peter Pellegrini thinks that although Slovakia needs reform, the change in government will result in less accessible health care in the regions. He insists that the stratification of hospitals from his government’s workshop should have been different, with the plan being to build and renovate top-quality, high-quality end hospitals. “At the same time, data on regional hospitals were to be evaluated in detail for two years, and not to disrupt beds or entire wards from the Green Table in Bratislava,” he responded by saying that it was a dishonest and unfair game with citizens.

The Alliance is aware of the urgency of health care reform, but optimizing the hospital network should not be the first step in reform. He fears the degradation of well-functioning and necessary hospitals in the southern and eastern regions of Slovakia. “We hope that the governing coalition and the coalition deputies will sit at the negotiating table with the representatives of the institutions concerned by the hospital reform before discussing this government proposal in the second reading,” added party spokeswoman Klára Magdeme.