Anit-abortionist group’s ‘baby box’ stirs Croatia row

A “baby box” for abandoned newborns has sparked a row in staunchly Catholic Croatia with women’s rights groups calling for its removal, saying it is an illegal “Trojan horse” for anti-abortion campaigners.

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The modern form of the medieval “foundling wheel” - where unwanted babies were left at churches - was built into a convent wall in February in a quiet Zagreb neighbourhood.

Motion sensors set off an alarm on the mobile phones of the nuns inside and of a Catholic anti-abortion group when the hatch is opened. The angle of a security camera guarantees the person leaving the baby cannot be seen.

“Tt is aimed at saving lives and preventing infanticide” Alberta Vrdoljak, the head of the Betlehem Zagreb group that runs the “Window of Life’, told AFP.

A shocking case of a newborn baby boy left in a bin in a park near Zagreb last May proved the need for it, she said. Luckily the child survived after being found by two teenagers. Although the baby box has yet to be used, they say police and medical services will also be informed.

“Society needs such a place, offering a solution for cases which are rare but do exist, said Zvonimir Kvesic, another member of the group.