Nika Tarkian Gender Rights, Human Rights

Reproductive Healthcare in Europe: a Woman’s Right to Choose

Dear Activist,

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines reproductive healthcare as a “state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, in all matters relating to the reproductive system.” Additionally, WHO states that “reproductive health implies that people are able to have a satisfying and safe sex life and that they have the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when and how often to do so.”

According to Merriam-Webster, abortion can be defined as “the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus.” The infamous abortion debate comprises the controversy surrounding the moral, legal, and religious status of aborting an embryo or fetus.

You may have come across the terms “pro-choice” and “pro-life” before; they are two polarising movements, one of them is pro-abortion whilst the other is anti-abortion. The pro-choice movement supports that a woman has every right to choose whether she wishes to terminate a pregnancy. On the contrary, the pro-life movement believes that the embryo or fetus should be carried to term and born.

The European Parliament declared access to safe abortion a human right on Tuesday, June 23, 2021. The resolution urges European Union member states to recognize that any interferences with access to contraception, fertility treatment, maternity care, and abortion “constitute breaches of human rights.” Furthermore, it implores countries to “condemn any attempt to limit access” to these services.

Policies and laws vary throughout the continent. According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, “Europe has led the continuing global trend towards the liberalization of abortion laws and the legalization of women’s access to safe and legal abortion.”

Legal Access to Reproductive Healthcare

In theory, abortion on request is legally protected in 39 European countries and on socio-economic grounds in Finland and the United Kingdom. Socio-economic grounds imply that laws in these two countries can be “interpreted liberally to permit abortion under a broad range of circumstances,” such as but not limited to employment, income, marital status, standard of living, education, community safety, and social support.

Restrictive Reproductive Healthcare Laws

Liechtenstein, Monaco, and Poland allow abortion on the grounds of the woman’s life or health being in danger, the pregnancy being the result of sexual assault, or due to a critical fetal anomaly. Critical fetal anomaly, however, is not even a valid reason for an abortion in Liechtenstein. Meanwhile, there is a complete ban on abortion in Andorra, Malta, and San Marino.

Unfortunately, over the years, there have been numerous court challenges in an attempt to revert legal protections for women’s access to abortion. New regressive preconditions that women must fulfill prior to receiving abortion care have also been introduced, which includes mandatory biased counseling and waiting periods. These proceedings breach the principle of non-retrogression under international human rights law.

Access Barriers to Reproductive Healthcare

Waiting periods for abortion on request: A mandatory time period needs to elapse between the date on which the abortion is requested and the date on which it takes place in 15 countries. This law undermines access to timely care and restricts women’s rights and autonomous decision making.

Time barriers: The standard practice across Europe is to not impose time limits on the legality of abortion as rigid time limits tend to have harmful impacts by creating pressure for women who seek abortion care; however, some countries have set a limit of between 18 to 24 weeks, but the limit in most countries has been set to the first trimester. This may result in women traveling abroad to access a legal abortion or having one at home outside of the scope of the law and under threat of criminal prosecution.

Mandatory counseling: Women who seek to have an abortion are required to receive counseling or information from their doctors in 12 countries. Some even require the distribution of biased and directive counseling deliberately intended to influence women’s decision-making and dissuade them from having an abortion.

Third party authorization procedures: Permission is required from parents, guardians, doctors, or official committees in some countries prior to the woman receiving an abortion. These laws disproportionately impact adolescent girls, women with disabilities, those living in poverty, and women belonging to marginalized communities.

Refusals of care on grounds of conscience and religion: Conscientious objection to abortion is the right of medical professionals to refuse performing an abortion due to their personal beliefs. This makes it significantly harder for women in some countries to find non-objecting gynecologists. Thus, access to an abortion is difficult to acquire as procedures can be refused even if the surgery is lawful.

Distress requirements: In Albania, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands, even though abortion is legal on request, women are required to explain why they are seeking an abortion. This could be due to social or family circumstances or the distress that the pregnancy causes them. These rules lead to the stigmatization of abortion and undermine autonomous decision-making.

Criminalization: Criminal sanctions, such as fines and prison sentences, for abortions that bypassed the law are in place in some countries. They mostly apply to medical professionals or others who assist women in obtaining illegal abortion care. That being said, there are still criminal penalties for women who seek abortion care unlawfully in certain countries.

COVID-19’s Impact on Reproductive Rights

The pandemic negatively affected access to reproductive healthcare. Due to the surge in patients infected with the virus, health systems deprioritized non-urgent care. This led to an increase in the amount of women who suffered complications or died during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period.

During the strict travel restrictions imposed by world governments, women residing in countries with highly restrictive abortion laws were robbed of the opportunity to travel abroad to receive an abortion, which led to many of them carrying their babies against their will, having an illegal abortion, or taking the abortion pill.

Activate Change

Women deserve the right to choose. They deserve the right to uniform legislation that protects everyone, regardless of the factors that divide us. The denial of contraceptive care to women is the primary cause of maternal deaths in Europe. Additionally, women that live in poverty frequently face restrictions on freedom of movement that further hinder access to abortion services. We must act now. You can act now.

Cordially,

Eleni Protopapa