Dozens of Hungarian women travel to Austria for abortions every week, amid tightening laws

Abortions are legal in Hungary but humiliating treatment and waiting lists prompt women to terminate their pregnancies outside of the country, women and experts told Euronews. Their main destination is Austria.

By Lili Rutai
16/08/2023

“I was sure I didn’t want to go through this procedure in Hungary,” Adri, 32, who asked to be identified only by her first name, says. She lives in an agglomeration of Budapest, works as a life coach and raises her son alone. She got pregnant again, two years ago, and decided to get an abortion.

Surgical abortions are legal until the 12th week in Hungary but women are required to attend two mandatory meetings with a state service. The first one is to inform them of other opportunities, including adoption, Réka Lebedi, a lawyer at Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ), a human rights NGO, explained. The second’s purpose is to inform them of the dangers of the surgery.

Continued: https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2023/08/16/dozens-of-hungarian-women-travel-to-austria-for-abortions-every-week-amid-tightening-laws

Safe havens? As some nations restrict access, a look at Europe’s abortion limits

19/04/2023
Joanna YORK

As US states and nations such as Poland move towards restricting access to abortions, parts of Europe are seen as something of a safe haven for those looking to terminate pregnancies. However, a look at legislation across the continent shows vast discrepancies and how – even if the procedure is often legal – access to abortion is restricted by hurdles ranging from mandatory counselling to a lack of doctors willing to perform the procedure.

More than 95% of women in Europe live in countries that allow some access to abortion. Some 39 European countries have legalised abortion on request, albeit with some restrictions. Six countries have strict limits in place although only three (Andorra, Malta and San Marino) do not allow abortion at all.

Continued: https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20230419-safe-havens-as-some-nations-restrict-access-a-look-at-europe-s-limits-on-abortion

End all legal barriers to abortion, say leading European politicians

Belgium’s prime minister among signatories to open letter backing global right to safe abortions and reopening of clinics closed in pandemic

Liz Ford
Wed 9 Jun 2021

Government ministers from five European countries, including Belgium’s prime minister, Alexander de Croo, are among 29 politicians, healthcare and women’s rights activists who have signed an open letter calling for the removal of all legal barriers to abortion.

The letter, signed by gender and equality ministers from France, Canada and Norway, and international development ministers from Sweden and the Netherlands, states that women’s right to safe, legal abortion is being eroded by misinformation and attacks on services. It calls for the reopening of abortion clinics closed during the pandemic.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/jun/09/end-all-legal-barriers-to-abortion-say-leading-european-politicians

Women in Croatia fear further erosion of long-held abortion rights

Pro-choice activists fear mandatory counselling may be added to abortion law

Sun, May 23, 2021
Amanda Coakley in Zagreb

In August, Karla, a 37-year-old mother of two, found herself in a worrisome situation. She was pregnant and was struggling to find a licensed clinic to perform a medical abortion in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.

According to her doctor she had been one of the small percentage of women for whom the morning-after pill was ineffective. One private clinic told her it could only do a surgical abortion due to the coronavirus pandemic. A public hospital told her doctor its internal politics wouldn’t allow the procedure to be performed.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/women-in-croatia-fear-further-erosion-of-long-held-abortion-rights-1.4572919

Abortion provision thrown into doubt by coronavirus pandemic

Abortion provision thrown into doubt by coronavirus pandemic

By Laura Smith-Spark, Valentina Di Donato and Stephanie Halasz, CNN
March 27, 2020

London (CNN)As the coronavirus pandemic sweeps the globe, women's access to abortion is one of many healthcare provisions thrown into jeopardy.

The UK government caused confusion this week when it first announced that women would temporarily be allowed to access early medical abortion at home, rather than attending a clinic -- and then, hours later, reversed its decision.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/27/health/coronavirus-abortion-access-intl/index.html

Center for Reproductive Rights Releases New Brief of European Abortion Laws

Center for Reproductive Rights Releases New Brief of European Abortion Laws
Europe leads the world with its number of liberalized laws on abortion, but many women still face access barriers due to regulatory restrictions or regressive threats

Nov 27, 2019

(PRESS RELEASE) --A new comparative overview of European abortion laws, released today by the Center for Reproductive Rights, reveals that more than 95% of women of reproductive age currently live in countries where laws allow abortion either on request or on broad social grounds.

This impressive statistic nevertheless masks the fact that some of these countries maintain restrictive pre-conditions, such as mandatory counselling or enforced waiting periods, that can impede or delay women accessing services. In addition, abortion is still outlawed or extremely restricted in six countries in the region.

Continued: https://reproductiverights.org/press-room/center-reproductive-rights-releases-new-brief-european-abortion-laws

27.11.2019

Featured

News

Center for Reproductive Rights

European Abortion Laws: A Comparative Overview

Leah Hector

mandatory counselling

mandatory waiting periods

restrictive abortion laws

Europe

Human Rights

Law

USA – What to Consider If You Have to Travel for an Abortion

What to Consider If You Have to Travel for an Abortion
It’s a lot to think about. Here’s where to start.

June 21, 2019
By Carolyn L. Todd

Getting an abortion is a safe and legal procedure in this country, but it’s becoming harder and harder to access one. If you’re reading this, you’re probably very aware of the many obstacles that can stand in the way of someone getting an abortion. And those barriers just keep piling up.

At least 378 abortion restrictions were introduced in the first half of 2019 alone, according to the Guttmacher Institute. The intention behind these restrictions is clear: to effectively ban abortion by outlawing the procedures after six weeks of gestation (the time since your last period), which is usually before most people even find out they’re pregnant. Lawmakers in Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Louisiana, and Missouri voted in favor of such six-week bans. Alabama intends to outlaw abortion unless the life or health of the pregnant person is endangered.

Continued: https://www.self.com/story/travel-for-abortion-considerations

South Africa: Parliament rejects ACDP’s abortion bill

Parliament rejects ACDP’s abortion bill
Health committee declares private members bill ‘undesirable’, but MP Cheryllyn Dudley says the debate has now been started

06 September 2018
Tamar Kahn

Parliament has rejected the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) MP Cheryllyn Dudley’s private members bill on abortion, which critics have seen as a thinly veiled attempt to roll back women’s hard-won rights to safely terminate unwanted pregnancies.

Until the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act came into effect in 1997, abortions were only available in SA under extremely limited conditions. They required the approval of two doctors who were not involved in the matter, and in some cases a magistrate or psychiatrist as well.

Continued: https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2018-09-06-parliament-rejects-acdps-abortion-bill/

Australia – Let Me Count The Ways I Tried To Talk To George Christensen About Abortion

Let Me Count The Ways I Tried To Talk To George Christensen About Abortion
Look, I tried.

Posted on April 26, 2018
Gina Rushton, BuzzFeed News Reporter, Australia

Nationals MP George Christensen last month attended an anti-abortion rally, wrote to the treasurer, and made social media posts calling for millions of dollars in Australia's foreign aid budget to be allocated to pregnancy counselling for Australian women.

Christensen wrote to treasurer Scott Morrison to ask that $9.5 million allocated to an international family planning organisation be redirected to pregnancy counselling services for young Australian mothers.

Continued: https://www.buzzfeed.com/ginarushton/i-tried-talking-to-george-christensen-about-abortion-via?utm_term=.swWdQLV89#.ua7g037Ya

5 things to know about abortion in Germany

5 things to know about abortion in Germany

Lucinda Watts
14 September 2017

In Germany, abortion is not the lightning rod for liberal and conservative anger that it is the US. But the fact that it is technically illegal under the constitution is just one issue that still stirs debate.

Continued at source: The Local: https://www.thelocal.de/20170914/5-things-to-know-about-abortion-in-germany

14.09.2017