The Current Hungarian Government’s Anti-Abortion Discourse Masquerading as a Discourse about National “Emancipation” A magyar kormány abortusz retorikájának csapdái

Abstract

In 2011 the debate on the regulation of abortion flared up in Hungary again in response to the newly elected Government’s attempts at rewriting the Constitution. An Amendment was included in the Constitution proclaiming the protection of the fetus’s life. As part of this effort, the Government started an anti-abortion billboard campaign. On the billboard the caption on the photograph of a fetus has the following plea: 'I understand that you are not ready to have me, please give me up for adoption and let me live'. The article analyzes the possible consequences of these governmental measures on pregnant women’s restriction of access to abortion. I examine the rhetoric employed by pro-governmental politicians and explore the cynical strategy of reversing the meaning of democracy, where the ban on abortion should be the measure of a “truly” democratic system, however, the Hungarian public is not yet “developed enough” to accept the ban.