Singles’ abortion rights rejected
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Sevim Songün
OluÅŸturulma Tarihi: Haziran 19, 2009 09:06
ISTANBUL - Abortion is a sensitive subject around the world. In the EU, law varies widely from country to country, while in Turkey the law varies from hospital to hospital. A Daily News investigation reveals it can be disregarded on grounds that the woman is unmarried. ’Such behavior is a result of the rise of conservatism in Turkey,’ says one expert.
While a woman is legally entitled to have an abortion in Turkey, most state-owned hospitals in Istanbul will not provide the service.Â
Turkish law does not discriminate against single women on the issue, but some Istanbul hospitals refuse such requests if the patient fails to present a marriage certificate. After attempting to speak directly to hospitals and to learn more via press officials at the provincial health department, the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review reporter had to pose as a potential patient to learn more information.
"None of the public hospitals do abortions on single women. It is not legal," said an official from the family planning department at the Haseki Education and Research Hospital, located in the Eminönü neighborhood. She said the hospital did not perform abortions for unmarried women and advised the reporter to apply to a private clinic.
Legal experts, however, refuted the medical official’s statement. Lawyer and women’s activist Hülya Gülbahar said there was nothing in Turkish law that prevented single women from having an abortion.
Article 5 of the Population Planning Law of 1983 says a pregnancy can be terminated up until the 10th week on the condition that the operation would cause no harm to the mother's health. If the time limit has passed, an abortion can be performed only if the pregnancy threatens the mother's health or if the unborn child is diagnosed with severe disability.
Article 6 of the same law says, for women over the age of 18, abortion can only be carried out with the pregnant woman’s consent.
If the woman is younger than 18, her parent's consent is required. If the woman is married, her husband's permission is necessary, the law says.
"Women over the age of 18 can get an abortion if their pregnancies are less than 10 weeks," said Gülbahar. "If the health of the mother is in danger or if the pregnancy is the result of a criminal incident, then pregnancies beyond 10 weeks can also be terminated."
When asked how some hospitals could refuse to perform such operations, she said: "This is a violation of the right to health services and discrimination based on marital status." Gülbahar said such hospitals were guilty of malpractice, adding: "Such behavior is a result of the rise of conservatism in Turkey."
A doctor at the Lütfi Kırdar Kartal Education and Research Hospital, who reacted defensively when asked his name, said they did not carry out abortions on an unmarried woman unless the woman’s health was threatened. Asked for the reasons behind this practice, the doctor said: "I do not judge whether this is wrong or right, this is our hospital’s policy."
A nurse from Eyüp Public Hospital, whose name wasn’t asked, said state hospitals did not perform abortions and recommended family planning departments. She said these departments, not hospitals, was the appropriate avenue for dealing with such matters. "As far as I know, single woman cannot get an abortion in state hospitals. It is not legal. If abortion was that easy, no one would be having babies," said the nurse.
Bakırköy Maternity and Pediatric Education and Research Hospital also will not perform an abortion for an unmarried woman, even though it will for a married woman. The officials from the hospital also advised the reporter that the place to go was a private clinic.
At a private clinic, an abortion costs at least 650 Turkish liras.
Nilüfer Narlı, a sociologist from Bahçeşehir University, said this practice was another face of the discrimination against women in Turkey. "They punish women for having a relationship when they are single," said Narlı. She said this was a way of punishing single pregnant women, who most of the time cannot afford an abortion in a private clinic and risk their lives by pursuing folk remedies.
Liz Amado, a representative of the Women for Women’s Human Rights Ğ New Ways, said the discriminatory practice was based on a traditional approach toward women that regarded sex outside of marriage as unacceptable. "It is about having the authority over one’s body. In this case, the state has control over women’s body and life," Amado said. However, when the Turkish Criminal Code, or TCK, was amended in 2005, it conspicuously refrained from defining the punishment for a married woman who had an abortion without her husband’s consent.
According to Gülbahar, single pregnant women who are denied an abortion by public hospitals should lodge a complaint with Parliament’s Human Rights Commission or the Commission on Gender Equality. However, she said most women seemed to fear being identified, with no such application lodged at either commission until now.
Depends on hospital
The attitudes of the personnel and administration at these hospitals do not fully represent Istanbul’s public hospitals. In contacting Şişli Etfal Education and Research Hospital, Göztepe Education and Research Hospital, Zeynep Kamil Education and Research Hospital, Haydarpaşa Numune Education and Research Hospital, the Daily News was told there is no need to be married to have an abortion.
Istanbul Provincial Health Department, which oversees all medical establishments in the province, repeatedly failed to respond to the Daily News, saying they had not had enough time to investigate the issue.
The press officer at the department said she did not know the law and that she would have to ask the hospitals about their procedure. The head of the provincial health department declined to comment over the phone and no date for an interview in person was granted.
Turkish law does not discriminate against single women on the issue, but some Istanbul hospitals refuse such requests if the patient fails to present a marriage certificate. After attempting to speak directly to hospitals and to learn more via press officials at the provincial health department, the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review reporter had to pose as a potential patient to learn more information.
"None of the public hospitals do abortions on single women. It is not legal," said an official from the family planning department at the Haseki Education and Research Hospital, located in the Eminönü neighborhood. She said the hospital did not perform abortions for unmarried women and advised the reporter to apply to a private clinic.
Legal experts, however, refuted the medical official’s statement. Lawyer and women’s activist Hülya Gülbahar said there was nothing in Turkish law that prevented single women from having an abortion.
Article 5 of the Population Planning Law of 1983 says a pregnancy can be terminated up until the 10th week on the condition that the operation would cause no harm to the mother's health. If the time limit has passed, an abortion can be performed only if the pregnancy threatens the mother's health or if the unborn child is diagnosed with severe disability.
Article 6 of the same law says, for women over the age of 18, abortion can only be carried out with the pregnant woman’s consent.
If the woman is younger than 18, her parent's consent is required. If the woman is married, her husband's permission is necessary, the law says.
"Women over the age of 18 can get an abortion if their pregnancies are less than 10 weeks," said Gülbahar. "If the health of the mother is in danger or if the pregnancy is the result of a criminal incident, then pregnancies beyond 10 weeks can also be terminated."
When asked how some hospitals could refuse to perform such operations, she said: "This is a violation of the right to health services and discrimination based on marital status." Gülbahar said such hospitals were guilty of malpractice, adding: "Such behavior is a result of the rise of conservatism in Turkey."
A doctor at the Lütfi Kırdar Kartal Education and Research Hospital, who reacted defensively when asked his name, said they did not carry out abortions on an unmarried woman unless the woman’s health was threatened. Asked for the reasons behind this practice, the doctor said: "I do not judge whether this is wrong or right, this is our hospital’s policy."
A nurse from Eyüp Public Hospital, whose name wasn’t asked, said state hospitals did not perform abortions and recommended family planning departments. She said these departments, not hospitals, was the appropriate avenue for dealing with such matters. "As far as I know, single woman cannot get an abortion in state hospitals. It is not legal. If abortion was that easy, no one would be having babies," said the nurse.
Bakırköy Maternity and Pediatric Education and Research Hospital also will not perform an abortion for an unmarried woman, even though it will for a married woman. The officials from the hospital also advised the reporter that the place to go was a private clinic.
At a private clinic, an abortion costs at least 650 Turkish liras.
Nilüfer Narlı, a sociologist from Bahçeşehir University, said this practice was another face of the discrimination against women in Turkey. "They punish women for having a relationship when they are single," said Narlı. She said this was a way of punishing single pregnant women, who most of the time cannot afford an abortion in a private clinic and risk their lives by pursuing folk remedies.
Liz Amado, a representative of the Women for Women’s Human Rights Ğ New Ways, said the discriminatory practice was based on a traditional approach toward women that regarded sex outside of marriage as unacceptable. "It is about having the authority over one’s body. In this case, the state has control over women’s body and life," Amado said. However, when the Turkish Criminal Code, or TCK, was amended in 2005, it conspicuously refrained from defining the punishment for a married woman who had an abortion without her husband’s consent.
According to Gülbahar, single pregnant women who are denied an abortion by public hospitals should lodge a complaint with Parliament’s Human Rights Commission or the Commission on Gender Equality. However, she said most women seemed to fear being identified, with no such application lodged at either commission until now.
Depends on hospital
The attitudes of the personnel and administration at these hospitals do not fully represent Istanbul’s public hospitals. In contacting Şişli Etfal Education and Research Hospital, Göztepe Education and Research Hospital, Zeynep Kamil Education and Research Hospital, Haydarpaşa Numune Education and Research Hospital, the Daily News was told there is no need to be married to have an abortion.
Istanbul Provincial Health Department, which oversees all medical establishments in the province, repeatedly failed to respond to the Daily News, saying they had not had enough time to investigate the issue.
The press officer at the department said she did not know the law and that she would have to ask the hospitals about their procedure. The head of the provincial health department declined to comment over the phone and no date for an interview in person was granted.