by Lilian Sepúlveda
01 June 2012
Evidence show that abortion restrictions lead not to fewer abortions, but to increases in unsafe and illegal abortion procedures, warns campaign group
Women living in Turkey could be facing a dangerous future, thanks to the extremely troubling remarks and actions of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan. Last week, he sparked outrage among local women’s rights advocates and the international human rights community at the annual International Parliamentarians’ Conference on Population and Development, in Istanbul. Erdogan said that he saw abortion as “murder” and asked the audience: “What’s the difference between killing a baby inside a mother’s womb and killing a baby after birth?”
It was ironic that he spoke these words at a meeting where parliamentarians around the world gathered to reaffirm their commitment to the ICPD programme of action. It specifically calls on governments to address the harms of unsafe abortion and support a woman’s right to make her own reproductive health decisions. But the Turkish PM’s expressions of disregard for the lives and health of women did not end there. Just a few days later, Erdoðan publicly called for his harsh sentiments to be enshrined in law; demanding a change in Turkey’s current abortion policies.
Currently, abortion is legal in Turkey during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy and thereafter to preserve a pregnant woman’s life or health – and in cases of fetal impairment. According to media reports, Erdoðan is now seeking to drastically reduce this time period. If he gets his way, abortion will be legal only in the first month of pregnancy, before the vast majority of women even know they are pregnant. The consequences of restricting abortion are bad enough. Mountains of evidence show that abortion restrictions lead not to fewer abortions, but to increases in unsafe and illegal abortion procedures.
More: Europe must fight Turkish abortion restrictions | Ataturk Society UK