Anti-abortion activism in the Czech Republic and Slovakia: ‘nationalizing’ the strategies

The article focuses on the changing strategies of anti-abortion activists in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Firstly, it explores the interlinkage with the global conservative network and describes the shared strategies. Secondly, it focuses on the role of religion and church in the Czech Republic and Slovakia with an emphasis on abortion attitudes in both countries. Thirdly, by pointing out the expected public role of religion in each country, the text examines the specific nature of anti-abortion activism in the political, public, and service spheres of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Drawing upon comparative design, the article argues that, despite the mutual history of the two countries, the anti-abortion movements are driven to choose different strategies with which to promote their cause that reflects the ‘national’ cultural and religious ethos of the country. Whereas in the secularized Czech Republic, activists follow a model of downplaying religious background, the decentralized Slovak movements oscillate between appealing to traditional Catholic morality and engaging in more secularized strategies similar to those adopted by the Czech movements.