Invisible strings and visible laws: Reproductive rights in Serbia, Romania, Hungary and Poland

This article examines how abortion attitudes are shaped in four Central and Eastern European countries, Romania, Serbia, Hungary, and Poland, by exploring the interplay between individual values, trust, and national sociopolitical contexts. Although these countries share post-socialist legacies and similar legislative histories, they differ in levels of access to abortion and public support for reproductive rights. The study pursues two key objectives: (1) to provide a comparative overview of abortion policy development in each country and (2) to analyze how confidence in religious institutions, gender role beliefs, democratic values, and respondents' sex predict attitudes toward abortion. Methodologically, it employs a twofold approach: a qualitative comparison of legislative trajectories and a quantitative analysis of survey data using the World Values Survey and the European Values Study (2017-2022). Findings indicate that trust in churches predicts lower support for abortion only in Romania, while in Poland it has a positive effect, potentially reflecting backlash to restrictive laws. Traditional gender beliefs negatively affect abortion support in Romania and Serbia, but not in Hungary or Poland. Democratic values are positively associated with support in Romania, Serbia, and Hungary, but not Poland. Gender differences also vary by country: men are more supportive in Serbia and Hungary, while in Poland, women express greater support. The results point to the importance of historical, religious, and political contexts in shaping abortion attitudes. They further support theories that interpret anti-abortion sentiment as part of broader anti-gender movements fueled by economic insecurity, cultural backlash, and right-wing populist discourse. These findings highlight the need to situate individual-level attitudes within wider ideological and institutional frameworks.