Public hospitals do not make law
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 22, 2009 00:00
In virtually no society is the issue of abortion easy. It is a matter both deeply personal and broadly societal as it touches on tradition, faith, health and the rights of women. We acknowledge that there are and will be many views in Turkey as elsewhere on the ethics of terminating an unwanted pregnancy.
But we also strongly believe that safe and responsible policies can only be promulgated and instituted through the mechanisms of the state: with the contributions of public health expertise and the perspective of the judiciary, legislatures around the world have devised national standards. The alternative is to drive those seeking abortions to untrained midwifes, quacks and worse. The result over recent decades is widely varying standards. In Sweden, a woman seeking an abortion must counsel with a social worker in advance. In the United Kingdom, the appropriateness of the procedure must be confirmed by two physicians. In Ireland, abortion is banned unless the life of the woman is threatened.
We advocate no particular policy. We do advocate the embrace of policy-making and the implementation of clear national standards that reflect local mores, concerns and outlooks. This is what all European nations have done, with the exception of Turkey. And contemporary practice in Turkey is an egregious abuse of the law generally and the rights of women particularly.
Officially, Turkey does have a policy. This is in the Population Planning Law of 1983. In general, it allows termination of pregnancy up until the 10th week after conception. If a woman is under the age of majority, she must have parental consent. If she is married, she must have spousal consent. If she is unmarried, the decision is between her and her physician. In theory.
In practice, as our reporter Sevim Songün discovered, public hospitals in Istanbul have left implementation of the policy largely to the whims of nurses or doctors on duty. Officials at several public hospitals wrongly told Songün that abortions for single women are illegal. At public facility after public facility, Songün Ğ posing as a pregnant single woman Ğ was counseled to go to a private clinic.
"This is a violation of the right to health services and discrimination based on marital status," said women’s rights lawyer Hülya Gülbahar. We could not agree more. Police are not allowed to decide which laws they will enforce. Teachers are not allowed to decide which curriculum they will teach. Pilots of aircraft don’t decide on their own the altitude at which they will fly.
Doctors in the employ of the state can no more dream up their own policies on abortion than jailers can decide who will walk free. This freelance policymaking should be of urgent concern to Parliament, to the Ministry of Health and those monitoring Turkey in the European Union.
We advocate no particular policy. We do advocate the embrace of policy-making and the implementation of clear national standards that reflect local mores, concerns and outlooks. This is what all European nations have done, with the exception of Turkey. And contemporary practice in Turkey is an egregious abuse of the law generally and the rights of women particularly.
Officially, Turkey does have a policy. This is in the Population Planning Law of 1983. In general, it allows termination of pregnancy up until the 10th week after conception. If a woman is under the age of majority, she must have parental consent. If she is married, she must have spousal consent. If she is unmarried, the decision is between her and her physician. In theory.
In practice, as our reporter Sevim Songün discovered, public hospitals in Istanbul have left implementation of the policy largely to the whims of nurses or doctors on duty. Officials at several public hospitals wrongly told Songün that abortions for single women are illegal. At public facility after public facility, Songün Ğ posing as a pregnant single woman Ğ was counseled to go to a private clinic.
"This is a violation of the right to health services and discrimination based on marital status," said women’s rights lawyer Hülya Gülbahar. We could not agree more. Police are not allowed to decide which laws they will enforce. Teachers are not allowed to decide which curriculum they will teach. Pilots of aircraft don’t decide on their own the altitude at which they will fly.
Doctors in the employ of the state can no more dream up their own policies on abortion than jailers can decide who will walk free. This freelance policymaking should be of urgent concern to Parliament, to the Ministry of Health and those monitoring Turkey in the European Union.