What does the history of legal regulation of abortion on the Croatian territory look like? The narrator takes the audience to a historical journey with the help of virtual material projected on the screen. Croatian doctors of the 1920s are campaigning for a legalisation of abortion based on social indications: Poor women are bleeding and dying during illegal abortions, while rich women can afford to have quality treatment with private doctors. The screen shows animations with parts of the Criminal Law of Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes passed at the time of the dictatorship of 1929, documents from the Nazi controlled Independent State of Croatia, when the abortion providers were punished by death… Up until 1978 when a law which legalizes the practice was passed during the socialist Yugoslavia. This law is still effective today. Along with a multimedia historical analysis, music numbers, excerpts from educational films on abortion, the documentary performance LOVE & ECONOMY highlights the socio-economic aspects of abortion.
Art cannot solve the conflicts which are unsolved in reality. LOVE & ECONOMY becomes a public debate between two speakers, moderator and the audience. What happens when we move the abortion discussion from the domain of ethics to the socio-economic domain? Does this act change the rigid social division between those who are pro-life and those pro-choice? The answers to these questions depend on the audience at each performance. LOVE & ECONOMY is a humanitarian event. All proceeds go to organisations which take care of children from socially vulnerable families.
