Abortion in Greece

Last updated

Abortion in Greece has been fully legalized since 1986, when Law 1609/1986 was passed effective from 3 July 1986. [1] [2] Partial legalization of abortion in Greece was passed in Law 821 in 1978 that provided for the legal termination of a pregnancy, with no time limitation, in the event of a threat to the health or life of the woman. This law also allowed for termination up to the 12th week of pregnancy due to psychiatric indications and to the 20th week due to fetal pathology. [3] Following the passage of the 1986 law, abortions can be performed on-demand in hospitals for women whose pregnancies have not exceeded 12 weeks. [4] In the case of rape or incest, an abortion can occur as late as 19 weeks, and as late as 24 weeks in the case of fetal abnormalities. [4] In case of inevitable risk to the life of the pregnant woman or a risk of serious and continuous damage to her physical or mental health, termination of pregnancy is legal any time before birth. [2] [5] Girls under the age of 18 must get written permission from a parent or guardian before being allowed an abortion. [4]

Contents

Law 1609 also specifies that the abortion must be performed by a medical practitioner with a specialty in gynecology or obstetrics and with the assistance of an anesthesiologist; that the pregnant woman is informed of the consequences of terminating the pregnancy, including the state that the state can provide some protection for the mother and child, as well as other family planning topics; that the mother's health is examined prior to the abortion; and that the hospital or private clinic where the abortion is performed meets particular specifications. [6]

As of 2007, the abortion rate was 7.2 abortions per 1000 women aged 15–44 years. [7]

History

The modern Greek state and its penal system were created in the 1830s based on Bavarian laws. The system was designed by Georg Ludwig von Maurer and came into effect in 1835. Articles 303-305 addressed abortion, either performed by a pregnant woman or a third party.

Article 303–304:

If the mother who gave birth to a premature or dead infant used prior to that, knowingly, alone or with someone else, internal or external means, [means that] can cause a premature delivery or the death of the fetus in the mother's abdomen, she is punished with imprisonment. The same penalty is imposed on the midwives or pharmacists or others in the medical service who cause abortion with the consent of the pregnant woman or by recommending or by providing the means for performing such a felony.

These sentences carried a maximum punishment of ten years for both the pregnant woman committing the act herself, as well as for any third party assistants. This law, although amended in the 20th century, remained effectively unchanged and enforced for 90 years. [8] Nikolaos Kostes, the first professor of obstetrics at Athens University, distinguished between a emvyro (fetus), a vrefos (infant), and a kyema (literally, 'that which is conceived'). Kostes stated the fetal body parts could be discerned around the sixth week of pregnancy, and referred to the first three months of fertilized ova as 'the egg'. Historian Violetta Hionidou notes that academics like Kostes as well as laypeople did not consider early pregnancy to be a fetus. Therefore, if a woman was pregnant in the early months of gestation was not considered a fetus, any action taken to terminate a pregnancy could not be punishable by law. In a 1905 Supreme Court case, a judge ruled that a necessary element of article 303 was that 'the mother gave birth to a dead or premature fetus'. The judge, N. Momferatos, ruled that without this evidence, the law could not be applied.

However, in 1927, a court case ruled that it was 'not necessary for the court to have knowledge that the fetus was alive before the attempted abortion'. The judge specifically clarified that article 303 applied "even when the conception is recent and the fetus had not started giving signs of life yet". [9] Contradictorily, article 106 of the penal code specified that 'a person who undertook an illegal act in order to urgently protect their own or someone else's life' should not be punished. [10] This clause was applied in abortion-related arguments as early as 1872. [11]

Prior to legalization

Women in Greece gained the right to vote in 1952. Family planning became a topic of public discussion in Greece in the 1960s, though the conversation more focused on eugenics. In the 1970s, women's organizations became highly vocal on issues such as abortion and access to oral contraception. It was estimated that 300,000 illegal abortions were performed annually in the 1970s, as access to and information about contraception was virtually nonexistent. The women's movement organized protests and marches throughout Greece to bring attention and awareness to contraception and published informational material. [12]

In 1976, a number of volunteers established the Greek Family Planning Association, with the help of Greek congresswoman Virginia Tsouderou and an independent gynecologist. In 1980 the Minister of Health, Welfare and Social Insurance, Spiridon Doxiadis, established 10 family planning clinics within selected major urban hospitals. When the National Healthcare Service (Greek : Εθνικό Σύστημα Υγείας) was established in 1983, Article 15 incorporated language on family planning issues, education and information about family planning, and methods of family planning as part of its defined targets. The stated intention was to create a family planning center within every provincial hospital and, separately, for all health centers - 16 in urban and semi-urban areas - to provide family planning services. [12]

Demographics

In the 1990s, it was estimated that 150,000 to 400,000 abortions occurred annually. [6] However, because no central registry of abortions exists, it is difficult to obtain valid statistics for the number of abortions performed or on the frequently in different sub-groups, i.e. teenagers, immigrants, etc. [13] In 2007, the abortion rate in Greece was 7.2 abortions per 1,000 women among women between the ages of 15 and 44 years old. [14]

Age

From 2007 to 2014, teenage pregnancies constituted between 3 and 5 percent of all abortions obtained in Greece. [15] In 2014, an estimated 25% of teenagers terminated their pregnancies. A survey in 2019 reported that one in ten teenage girls ages 15 to 19 years old had had at least one abortion. [14]

Accessibility and methods

90% of abortions performed in Greece are surgical abortions, due to the requirements of the law that mandate abortions be performed by an obstetrician-gynecologist with the participation of an anesthesiologist. [16]

Related Research Articles

Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of all pregnancies. When deliberate steps are taken to end a pregnancy, it is called an induced abortion, or less frequently "induced miscarriage". The unmodified word abortion generally refers to an induced abortion. The most common reasons women give for having an abortion are for birth-timing and limiting family size. Other reasons reported include maternal health, an inability to afford a child, domestic violence, lack of support, feeling they are too young, wishing to complete education or advance a career, and not being able or willing to raise a child conceived as a result of rape or incest.

Late termination of pregnancy, also referred to as third trimester abortion, describes the termination of pregnancy by induced abortion during a late stage of gestation. In this context, late is not precisely defined, and different medical publications use varying gestational age thresholds. As of 2015 in the United States, more than 90% of abortions occur before the 13th week, 1.3% of abortions in the United States took place after the 21st week, and less than 1% occur after 24 weeks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abortion law</span> Laws that allow, prohibit, or regulate abortion

Abortion laws vary widely among countries and territories, and have changed over time. Such laws range from abortion being freely available on request, to regulation or restrictions of various kinds, to outright prohibition in all circumstances. Many countries and territories that allow abortion have gestational limits for the procedure depending on the reason; with the majority being up to 12 weeks for abortion on request, up to 24 weeks for rape, incest, or socioeconomic reasons, and more for fetal impairment or risk to the woman's health or life. As of 2022, countries that legally allow abortion on request or for socioeconomic reasons comprise about 60% of the world's population. In 2024, France became the first country to explicitly protect abortion rights in its constitution.

Chile's abortion laws have undergone significant changes in recent years. Prior to 2017, Chile had one of the strictest abortion laws globally, prohibiting the practice altogether. However, since then, abortion has become legal in certain circumstances.

Dilation and evacuation (D&E) or dilatation and evacuation is the dilation of the cervix and surgical evacuation of the uterus after the first trimester of pregnancy. It is a method of abortion as well as a common procedure used after miscarriage to remove all pregnancy tissue.

Abortion in Iran, as can be expected of many government policies, changed drastically between governments.

Fetal rights are the moral rights or legal rights of the human fetus under natural and civil law. The term fetal rights came into wide usage after Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark case that legalized abortion in the United States. The concept of fetal rights has evolved to include the issues of maternal substance use disorders, including alcohol use disorder and opioid use disorder. Most international human rights charters "clearly reject claims that human rights should attach from conception or any time before birth." While international human rights instruments lack a universal inclusion of the fetus as a person for the purposes of human rights, the fetus is granted various rights in the constitutions and civil codes of several countries.

Pregnant patients' rights or Pregnant women's rights refers to the choices and legal rights available to a woman experiencing pregnancy or childbirth. Specifically those under medical care within a medical establishment or those under the care of a medical professional regardless of location.

This is a timeline of reproductive rights legislation, a chronological list of laws and legal decisions affecting human reproductive rights. Reproductive rights are a sub-set of human rights pertaining to issues of reproduction and reproductive health. These rights may include some or all of the following: the right to legal or safe abortion, the right to birth control, the right to access quality reproductive healthcare, and the right to education and access in order to make reproductive choices free from coercion, discrimination, and violence. Reproductive rights may also include the right to receive education about contraception and sexually transmitted infections, and freedom from coerced sterilization, abortion, and contraception, and protection from practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM).

Abortion has been legal in India under various circumstances with the introduction of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Regulations, 2003 were issued under the Act to enable women to access safe and legal abortion services.

Abortion in Guyana is legal during the first eight weeks of pregnancy, but it is illegal after eight weeks except in cases of endangering the maternal or fetal health. Throughout much of the 20th century, it was officially illegal but rarely were laws against abortion ever enforced. In 1995, legislation was passed which made abortion legal as long as it was done within the first 8 weeks of pregnancy and done with the consent of the pregnant woman and by a licensed medical practitioner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abortion law in the United States by state</span> Termination of pregnancy in states of the United States

The legality of abortion in the United States and the various restrictions imposed on the procedure vary significantly, depending on the laws of each state or other jurisdiction, although there is no uniform federal law. Some states prohibit abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with few exceptions; others permit it up to a certain point in a woman's pregnancy, while some allow abortion throughout a woman's pregnancy. In states where abortion is legal, several classes of restrictions on the procedure may exist, such as parental consent or notification laws, requirements that patients be shown an ultrasound before obtaining an abortion, mandatory waiting periods, and counseling requirements.

Abortion is legally accepted in Hungary starting in 1953, with the most recent change to abortion laws being Act LXXIX of 1992 on the protection of fetal life. Under the current laws, abortions may be performed up to 12 weeks but may be extended up to 24 weeks in certain circumstances.

Foeticide, or feticide, is the act of killing a fetus, or causing a miscarriage. Definitions differ between legal and medical applications, whereas in law, feticide frequently refers to a criminal offense, in medicine the term generally refers to a part of an abortion procedure in which a provider intentionally induces fetal demise to avoid the chance of an unintended live birth, or as a standalone procedure in the case of selective reduction.

Definitions of abortion vary from one source to another. Abortion has many definitions that can differ from each other in significant ways. Given the contentious nature of abortion, lawmakers and other stakeholders often face controversy in defining abortion. Language referring to abortion often reflects societal and political opinions . Influential non-state actors like the United Nations and the Roman Catholic Church have also engendered controversy over efforts to define abortion.

Abortion in Cambodia is legal upon request within the first twelve weeks of pregnancy.

A termination for medical reasons (TFMR) is an induced abortion motivated by medical indications involving the fetus or mother. In some countries, health risks are the only basis for obtaining a legal abortion. Prenatal screening can allow early diagnosis, and abortion if desired or necessary. Some medical organizations advocate the offer of diagnostic testing by chorionic villi sampling, and amniocentesis to all pregnant women, as a matter of course.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abortion in Kenya</span> Termination of pregnancy in Kenya

Abortion in Kenya is prohibited with the exception of certain circumstances including danger to the life and health of the expectant mother, and rape. Unsafe abortions are a major cause of deaths and health complications for women in Kenya.

Abortion in Puerto Rico is technically prohibited on request, although it is de facto allowed without a clear limit. On June 22, 2022, the Senate passed a bill limiting abortion to 22 weeks, with exceptions for danger to the mother's life, fetal defects, and if the fetus would not be viable. The bill will need to be considered by the House.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abortion in Europe</span> Comparative overview of abortion law and practice

Abortion in Europe varies considerably between countries and territories due to differing national laws and policies on its legality, availability of the procedure, and alternative forms of support for pregnant women and their families.

References

  1. ↑ Ioannidi-Kapolou, Elizabeth (January 2004). "Use of Contraception and Abortion in Greece: A Review". Reproductive Health Matters. 12 (sup24): 174–183. doi:10.1016/s0968-8080(04)24001-0. ISSN   0968-8080. PMID   15938171. S2CID   10077100.
  2. 1 2 Rights of embryo and foetus in public and private law, Ismini Kriari-Catranis et al., p. 9
  3. ↑ Sarella, Angeliki; Lykeridou, Katerina; Glinou, Anna; Bothou, Anastasia; Palaska, Ermioni; Tzanavara, Maria; Zervoudis, Stefanos; Petropoulou, Sophia (January 2020). "KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEFS OF WOMEN FOR THE ABORTIONS'S LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK IN GREECE". Journal of Clinical Research and Reviews (2).
  4. 1 2 3 "Europe's abortion rules". 2007-02-12. Retrieved 2022-01-31.
  5. ↑ "Committee on the rights of the child consideration of reports submitted by states parties under article 44 of the convention, p. 9". Archived from the original on 2016-06-12. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
  6. 1 2 Chalkia, Alexandra (2004). The empty cradle of democracy : sex, abortion, and nationalism in modern Greece. Durham: Duke University Press. ISBN   978-0-8223-8604-9. OCLC   651953723.
  7. ↑ "World Abortion Policies 2013". United Nations. 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  8. ↑ Hionidou, Violetta (2020). Abortion and Contraception in Modern Greece, 1830-1967. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-41490-0. ISBN   978-3-030-41489-4. S2CID   219427073.
  9. ↑ Themis (in Greek). 1890.
  10. ↑ Ποινικός Νόμος: παράρτημα του αριθ. 3, έτους 1834 της Εφημερίδος της Κυβερνήσεως του Βασιλείου της Ελλάδος (in German). χ.ό. 1834.
  11. ↑ Πύρλας, Ιωάννης Π 1817-1901 (1870). Συνέκδημος Ιατροδικαστική /. Εκ του τυπογραφείου Ν. Γ. Πάσσαρη.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. 1 2 Ioannidi-Kapolou, Elizabeth (2004-01-01). "Use of Contraception and Abortion in Greece: A Review". Reproductive Health Matters. 12 (sup24): 174–183. doi:10.1016/S0968-8080(04)24001-0. ISSN   0968-8080. PMID   15938171. S2CID   10077100.
  13. ↑ Tsakiridis, Ioannis; Mamopoulos, Apostolos; Athanasiadis, Apostolos; Dagklis, Themistoklis (April 2020). "Trends in Induced Abortions in Greece: A Cross-sectional Study". Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. 33 (2): 149–152. doi:10.1016/j.jpag.2019.11.006. ISSN   1083-3188. PMID   31751764. S2CID   208228842.
  14. 1 2 "Άμβλωση: 10 πράγματα που πρέπει να ξέρουμε. Διαβάστε περισσότερα εδώ". *Parallaxi. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  15. ↑ Social Welfare Issues in Southern Europe. Maria Brown, Michael Briguglio. 2022. ISBN   978-0-429-26267-8. OCLC   1273727598.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  16. ↑ "Ας μιλήσουμε για την άμβλωση". OffLine Post (in Greek). 2022-07-05. Retrieved 2022-07-08.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.