East Central Europe Abortion Laws and Policies in Brief

August 2000

The abortion laws of East and Central Europe/former Soviet Union (“ECE region”) are among the most liberal in the world. Many ECE countries allow women to obtain an abortion upon request up to the 12th week of pregnancy, and up to 22 weeks for socio-economic and medical reasons. Since the mid-1990’s, nationalist and anti-choice groups have attempted to reform abortion laws and to restrict women’s reproductive rights. Given the lack of access to contraception in the region, these restrictions would effectively deny women’s reproductive self-determination and their basic human rights.¹

Background
In the recent past, women in the ECE region have had access to abortion. In the republics of the former Soviet Union, and those of the former Yugoslavia, abortion has been legal since the 1950’s. In countries where abortion was illegal, such as Romania and Albania, high rates of maternal mortality were attributed to unsafe abortions.

The abortion rates per woman in the ECE region are among the highest in the world. These rates reflect women’s lack of access to modern methods of family planning. Since 1989, little progress has been made towards increasing access to modern contraceptive methods. Most contraceptives are still imported. Many countries in the region also lack the infrastructure to distribute contraceptives effectively, especially in rural areas. In light of these factors, abortion is still a popular and necessary means for women’s exercise of reproductive autonomy.

Legal Status of Abortion Laws in ECE Region
Liberal abortion laws remain in force in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, the Russian Federation, Slovenia, Ukraine, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.² The republics of the Caucuses — Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia — and the Central Asian Republics — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan –also have liberal abortion laws.³ Since 1986, Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech and Slovak Republics, Hungary, and Romania have liberalized their abortion laws.⁴ All of these laws recognize a woman’s right to an abortion without restriction as to reason up to at least the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Poland is currently the only country in the ECE region where a woman is denied the right to choose an abortion.

Requirements for Obtaining an Abortion
Most countries in the ECE region require that authorized personnel, with the woman’s informed consent, carry out the procedure in an approved medical facility.

Along with these requirements aimed at protecting women’s health, several countries also impose barriers to accessing abortion. Some countries require that pregnant women undergo counseling and waiting periods before they may obtain legal abortions. Abortion providers may also need to get approval from other doctors or health care professionals before performing abortions. Several countries in the ECE region require parental notification if the individual seeking an abortion is a minor.

In most countries, abortion is permitted after the 12th week when the pregnancy threatens the life or health of the woman, when the pregnancy resulted from a crime, when the fetus is impaired, or for socio-economic reasons. In Russia, an abortion is legal at any point in the pregnancy for medical reasons, and up to 22 weeks for social reasons. In all countries in the ECE region, a woman may obtain a legal abortion at any time should her life or health be threatened. In Poland, abortion is permissible only to protect a woman’s physical health, or in cases of rape or fetal impairment.

Government funding
In many countries in the ECE region, abortions are performed in public facilities for free or at a nominal cost. Some countries selectively fund abortions. In Bulgaria, for example, therapeutic abortions and abortions performed on women who have been raped are free, while fees are charged for other abortions.⁵ Fees for abortions in private medical facilities vary but are substantially higher.

Penalties
The Criminal Code in most countries assigns penalties for the practice of illegal abortions.

Challenges to Abortion Laws
Despite the legal foundation for ensuring access to abortion in the ECE region, reproductive rights are threatened by a coalition of religious leaders, former Communists, and nationalist organizations, some of which receive funds from U.S. and European-based anti-choice groups.⁶ With declining birth rates a feature of many ECE countries, governments are increasingly promoting pro-natalist policies in an effort to encourage higher birth rates among particular segments of the population. Sex education and contraception in this pro-natalist climate are attacked as immoral and unpatriotic. These tendencies are manifest in several ECE countries, including Poland, Hungary, Albania, and Russia.⁷

Some recent laws in the region refer to the fetus’ right to protection. Poland’s law states that the “right to life enjoys protection, including [during] the pre-natal phase.”⁸ Hungary and Albania’s laws, though less restrictive, contain similar language. Hungary’s law provides that “the life of the fetus must be respected and protected from the time of conception,” guaranteeing the fetus and the pregnant woman “the right to assistance and protection.”⁹ Albania’s law states that its chief aims are to “preserve unborn life” and to protect demographic development.¹⁰

Conclusion
Powerful religious and conservative forces in ECE are threatening to limit laws and policies ensuring women’s right to choose. In combination with limited access to modern methods of family planning due to prohibitive costs and insufficient supplies, these restrictions serve to deny women in ECE their reproductive autonomy and their basic human rights. Government policies should promote reproductive health for women and men in ECE by ensuring access to safe and legal abortions, as well as to family planning information and reliable and affordable supplies of contraceptives.

Endnotes

1 The information in this fact sheet, unless otherwise noted, is taken from Center for Reproductive Rights, Women of the World: Laws and Polices Affecting their Reproductive Lives (East and Central Europe) (forthcoming September 2000).
2 Center for Reproductive Rights, The World’s Abortion Laws 1999 (wall chart) 1999.
3 Id.
4 See Anika Rahman & Laura Katzive, Central and Eastern Europe: Recent Trends in Abortion Law, 18 Medicine and Law 384 (1999).
5 Id at 373, 385.
6 Center for Reproductive Rights, “The Major Reproductive Rights Issues in the Region of Central and Eastern Europe,” 3 (1998) (unpublished memorandum, on file with Center for Reproductive Rights).
7 For legal challenges to abortion in Russia see Draft Federal Law, On the Legal Principles and Implementation Guarantees of Bioethics, at Article 9. (On file with the Center for Reproductive Rights).
8 Law of 7 Jan. 1993 on Family Planning, Human Embryo Protection, and Conditions of Legal Pregnancy Termination amended as of Dec. 23, 1997, quoted in Anika Rahman & Laura Katzive, Central and Eastern Europe: Recent Trends in Abortion Law, 18 Medicine and Law 373, 386 (1999).
9 Law No. 79 of 17 Dec. 1992 on the Protection of the Life of the Fetus, quoted in id. See Center for Reproductive Rights, Recommendations on Revision of Hungary’s Abortion Law: A Comparative European Perspective,” available online at www.reproductiverights.org
10 Law No. 8045 of 7 Dec. 1995 on the Interruption of Pregnancy quoted in id.