The bill refers to the treatment of infertility in women and couples and defines the requirements for artificial insemination, artificial insemination procedures, and the rights, obligations and liability of all those involved.
All couples and women should be enabled to use everything contemporary medicine offers and this bill provides for that, said Health Minister Rajko Ostojic.
The bill is going into regular procedure, so we expect all those interested to state their advice and proposals, he said, requesting that the public discussion on the matter be wrapped up as soon as possible, since some couples had been waiting for this for years.
The bill will be enacted within a reasonable time because it means a lot to people who can't have children and this issue should be presented to people with different views on the matter through the public discussion, said Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic.
The artificial insemination bill is based on six principles - the principle of optimal treatment, in accordance with the practice of developed European and rest of the world countries; the principle of choice, as all procedures offered by contemporary medicine are available, without imposing positions or obligations; the principle of the health of the woman and the child, as the bill envisages safe hormone stimulation which reduces multiple pregnancy to a minimum; and the principle of equity, which abolishes the discrimination against couples and women who, until now, had to undergo legal and psychological counselling before artificial insemination.
The principle of availability enables everyone who is interested to undergo treatment in Croatia, said Ostojic, adding that last year the Croatian Institute for Health Insurance paid HRK 42.5 million (approx. 5.7 million euros) for infertility treatment abroad.
He said the principle of participation of patients' associations would also be honoured and that these associations would be members of an artificial insemination commission.