Ljubljana - Advocates of the rights of unborn children gathered in Ljubljana on Saturday morning for an annual March for Life, which was held under the slogan Equality Begins before Birth. Stressing that the constitution safeguards human life, they urged joint efforts to also protect human lives from conception to natural death in practice.

Its organisers see the march as an annual rally to promote the joy of life, awareness of the dangers of abortion and compassion for unborn children aborted by their mothers, as well as for the parents of these children in distress.

The march was organised by a coordinating committee led by pro-life activist Urša Cankar Soares, who also opposes gay adoptions as unnatural and detrimental to children.

Many participants first filled Prešeren Square and then marched to Republic Square opposite the National Assembly, where tens of hundreds of people could be seen.

There have been a total of four Marches for Life in Slovenia, in 2014, and between 2020 and 2022, according to the organisers.

They are modelled on US marches that began a year after the Supreme Court legalised abortion across the US with the watershed 1973 ruling in the Roe vs Wade case.

The US ruling was annulled earlier this year, which has led to a growing number of US states making abortion illegal or very hard to obtain.

The organisers of the Ljubljana march said in a press release that the development in the US inspired optimism, while they urged raising awareness about the need to protect every life.

Abortion is allowed in Slovenia and free of charge for health insurance holders. Article 55 of the constitution says that one is free to decide on the births of one's children and the state must create conditions for this freedom to be exercised. This provision has often been criticised by the Catholic Church and anti-abortion groups.

Abortion can be performed until week 10 of pregnancy upon the woman's request, and minors do not need parental consent. After week 10, it is subject to approval of a special commission.

According to official statistics, the number of abortions has been decreasing; there were 4,718 in 2009 and 3,474 in 2018, which translates to 218 abortions per 1,000 live born children in 2009 and 180.5 in 2018.