Abortion in Europe

Debates around abortion, pregnancy and the beginning of life were common in Greek and Roman philosophy and medicine, and would have also been known in cultures which have not left a written record. The medical writer Soranus of Ephesus wrote in the early 2nd century AD:[4]

A contraceptive differs from an abortive, for the first does not let conception take place, while the latter destroys what has been conceived ... But a controversy has arisen. For one party banishes abortives ... because it is the specific task of medicine to guard and preserve what has been engendered by nature. The other party prescribes abortives, but with discrimination ...

An early Christian understanding of preventing abortion and infanticide was outlined in the 1st century Didache.[5]

Restrictions on abortion have generally corresponded with laws and societies influenced by Christianity or where a substantial number of health professionals refuse to perform abortion due to a personal conscientious objection which is often, but not always, related to religious faith.[6]

Pope John Paul II outlined Catholic teaching on abortion and support for a definition of life beginning at conception in his 1995 encyclical Evangelium vitae[7] and through the 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church:[8]

Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person – among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.

Eastern Orthodox Christianity has similarly strongly condemned abortion. The Russian Orthodox Church's Social Concept states:[9]

Since the ancient time the Church has viewed deliberate abortion as a grave sin. The canons equate abortion with murder. This assessment is based on the conviction that the conception of a human being is a gift of God.

Following the Reformation, Protestants also affirmed life before birth and opposed abortion, although individual Protestant churches have adopted differing positions on the grounds on which abortion should or should not be permitted. John Calvin, for example, wrote:[10]

The fetus, though enclosed in the womb of its mother, is already a human being, and it is almost a monstrous crime to rob it of the life which it has not yet begun to enjoy.

The Bishops of the Anglican Communion expressed opposition to abortion at the 1930 Lambeth Conference.[11] The 1958 Lambeth Conference's Family in Contemporary Society report affirmed the following position on abortion[12] and was commended by the 1968 Conference:[13]

In the strongest terms Christians reject the practice of induced abortion or infanticide, which involves the killing of a life already conceived (as well as a violation of the personality of the mother), save at the dictate of strict and undeniable medical necessity ... the sacredness of life is, in Christian eyes, an absolute which should not be violated.

Islamic and Jewish perspectives on abortion differ according to the scholarship followed.

Abortions have taken place either within or outside the law throughout European history, alongside initiatives by opponents of abortion to provide alternatives where a pregnancy is difficult or unwanted. These have included kinship care by families and friendship circles in every culture, the adoption and fostering of alumni children in Roman society, and the oblation of children who were given into the care of monastic institutions if a family was unable to provide adequate care. [14] In the modern era, formal support services have included adoption, fostering and foundling hospitals.

Eastern Europe

Soviet poster, from 1925, warning against abortions induced without medical care.

The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic was the first country in Europe to legalise abortion in 1920[15] and was followed by other Soviet Union republics. However, between 1936 and 1955, abortion in the Soviet Union was highly restricted due to medical concerns and its impact on population growth.[16]

Under eugenics laws in Nazi Germany, abortion was severely punished for women considered to be Aryan (racially superior). However, abortion was permitted on wider and more explicit grounds if the unborn child was believed to be deformed or disabled or if a termination otherwise was deemed desirable on eugenic or racial grounds, including forced abortion on Polish and Jewish women.[17][18]

Abortion law became more liberalised in Eastern Europe in the 1950s after the installation of communist regimes across the Eastern Bloc. The reintroduction of abortion in Soviet law in 1955[19] was accompanied by similar changes in:

• Hungary – 1953[20]
• Poland and Bulgaria – 1956[21]
• Czechoslovakia and Romania – 1957[22]

After the fall of communism, most of Eastern Europe continued with liberal abortion laws except for Poland, where abortion is allowed only in cases of risk to the life or health of the pregnant woman or when the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest. Abortion in cases of an abnormality in an unborn child was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Poland in 2020.[23]

While abortion is more widely available in Hungary and Slovakia, the Constitution of Slovakia describes human life as "worthy of protection already before birth"[24] and the Constitution of Hungary states that "embryonic and foetal life shall be subject to protection from the moment of conception."[25]

In most of the 60 European nation-states and other territories, there is a term limit before which abortion is more available in law than afterwards. An elective abortion before the term limit may, in some cases, be carried out on request without a medical indication by the pregnant woman, or with conditions. The grounds on which abortion is, or is not, legally permitted vary according to national laws and policies.

Country/territory	Elective term limit	Permitted further grounds
Albania	12 weeks
Andorra	Not applicable	Double effect principle – saving the life of the woman may have the unintended consequence of ending a pregnancy.[41]
Armenia	12 weeks
Austria	13 weeks	Immediate danger to the life of pregnant woman Serious danger to the life or to the physical or mental health of pregnant woman Serious danger that child may be afflicted with a serious physical or mental defect Pregnant woman became pregnant when under 14 years of age[42]
Azerbaijan	12 weeks
Belarus	12 weeks	At any stage: Risk to life of pregnant woman Up to 22 weeks: Imprisonment of pregnant woman or husband Severe disability in husband Additional child with a disability since childhood Death of husband during pregnancy Divorce during pregnancy Court decision to remove parental rights Pregnancy as a result of rape Family has more than three children Unemployment of pregnant woman or husband Refugee status[43]
Belgium	12 weeks
Bosnia and Herzegovina	10 weeks
Bulgaria	12 weeks
Croatia	10 weeks
Cyprus[44]	12 weeks
Akrotiri and Dhekelia[45]
Northern Cyprus[46]	10 weeks
Czechia	12 weeks
Denmark	12 weeks
Faroe Islands	Not applicable	Risk to life of pregnant woman Risk of harm to health of pregnant woman High risk of birth defect in unborn child Pregnancy as a result of rape
Estonia	11 weeks
Finland	12 weeks
France	14 weeks	Serious danger to life of pregnant woman Serious danger to health of pregnant woman Significant probability that unborn child will be born with a serious incurable disease[47]
Germany	12 weeks	Risk to life of pregnant woman Risk of grave impairment to physical or mental health of pregnant woman Pregnancy as a result of criminal offence (up to 12 weeks) Exceptional distress (at discretion of court) All abortions must be performed by a physician.[48]
Georgia	12 weeks
Gibraltar
Greece	12 weeks	Risk to life of pregnant woman Risk of serious and continuous damage to physical or mental health of pregnant woman Pregnancy as a result of rape or incest (up to 19 weeks) Abnormality in unborn child (up to 24 weeks)[49]
Hungary	12 weeks
Iceland	22 weeks
Ireland	12 weeks	Immediate serious risk to the life or of serious harm to the health of a pregnant woman (in an emergency) Serious risk to the life or of serious harm to the health of a pregnant woman Condition affecting the unborn child that is likely to lead to his or her death (either before, or within 28 days of, birth)[50]
Italy	12 weeks
Kazakhstan[51]	12 weeks
Kosovo
Latvia	12 weeks
Liechtenstein	Not applicable	Immediate danger to life of pregnant woman Serious danger to life or health of pregnant woman Pregnancy as a result of a sexual offence (or pregnant woman was under-age at the time of conception)[52]
Lithuania	12 weeks
Luxembourg	12 weeks
Malta	Not applicable	Saving the life and protecting the health of a pregnant woman suffering from a medical complication which may put her: Life at immediate risk Health in grave jeopardy which may lead to death.[53]
Moldova	12 weeks
Monaco
Montenegro	10 weeks
Netherlands	24 weeks
North Macedonia	12 weeks
Norway	12 weeks
Poland	Not applicable	Danger to life of pregnant woman Danger to health of pregnant woman Pregnancy as a result of a criminal act[54]
Portugal	10 weeks	Up to 12 weeks: Danger to life of pregnant woman Serious and lasting danger to body or physical or mental health of pregnant woman Up to 16 weeks: Pregnancy was a result of 'crime against sexual freedom and self-determination' Up to 24 weeks: Reasonable grounds to predict that child may be afflicted with incurable serious disease or congenital malformation At any stage: Unviable unborn child Only way to remove danger to life of pregnant woman Only way to remove serious and lasting danger to body or physical or mental health of pregnant woman
Romania	14 weeks
Russia	12 weeks
San Marino	12 weeks
Serbia	10 weeks
Slovakia	12 weeks
Slovenia	10 weeks
Spain	14 weeks
Sweden	18 weeks
Switzerland	12 weeks	Prevention of serious physical harm Prevention of serious psychological harm[55]
Turkey	10 weeks
Ukraine	12 weeks
England & Wales	Not applicable	At any stage: Risk to the life of pregnant woman Prevent grave permanent injury to physical or mental health of pregnant woman Substantial risk of serious physical or mental abnormalities in unborn child Up to 24 weeks: Risk of injury to physical or mental health of pregnant woman Risk of injury to physical or mental health of any existing children of family of pregnant woman[56]
Scotland	Not applicable	Legislation equivalent to England and Wales but devolved to Scottish Parliament.[57]
Northern Ireland	12 weeks	At any stage: Risk to the life of pregnant woman Prevent grave permanent injury to physical or mental health of pregnant woman Substantial risk that death of unborn child is likely before, during or shortly after birth Substantial risk that child would be seriously disabled Up to 24 weeks: Risk of injury to physical or mental health of pregnant woman[58]
Jersey
Guernsey
Isle of Man
Vatican City	Not applicable	Double effect principle – saving the life of the woman may have the unintended consequence of ending a pregnancy.[59]

The Center for Reproductive Rights, an American advocacy estimates that 95% of European women of reproductive age live in countries which allow for abortions as an elective procedure or for broad social and economic reasons.[60]

Most countries in the European Union allow elective abortions during the first trimester, while Sweden and the Netherlands have more extended time limits.[1] After the first trimester, abortion is generally allowed only under certain circumstances, such as risk to the woman's life or health, fetal defects, or in other specific situations that may be related to the circumstances of the conception or the woman's age. For instance, in Austria, second-trimester abortions are allowed only if there is a serious risk to the woman's life, physical health, or mental health (that cannot be averted by other means); serious fetal impairment (either physical or mental); or where a girl becomes pregnant when she is under 14 years of age. Some countries, such as Denmark, allow abortion after the first trimester for a variety of reasons, including socio-economic reasons if the decision to proceed is authortised by a committee with legal and medical expertise.[61] Similarly, in Finland, technically abortions up to 12 weeks require authorization from two doctors (unless there are special circumstances) although in practice, the authorization is only a rubber stamp and it is granted if the mother simply does not wish to have a baby.[62]

Access to abortion in much of Europe is closely related to prevailing social views which influence how law is interpreted. Laws which allow a second trimester abortion due to mental health concerns are, in many countries, interpreted very liberally while elsewhere (for example in Italy) widespread conscientious objection to abortion by doctors limits the number of abortions which can be provided at any stage of pregnancy.[63][64]

A waiting time between medical advice regarding a potential abortion and the procedure is required in some countries e.g. a three-day time for consideration (Bedenkzeit) in Germany, with mandatory counselling in early pregnancy or voluntary counselling in later pregnancy when the conditions for an abortion are more restricted.

Most European countries have laws that stipulate that girls need their parents' consent or that the parents must be informed of the abortion. Under some policies, this rule can be circumvented if a committee agrees that the girl may be placed at risk if her parents find out about the pregnancy, or that otherwise, it is in her best interests to not notify her parents.[63] Some countries differentiate between younger pregnant girls and older girls (for example aged 16 or older in Serbia) with the latter not subjected to parental restrictions.[65] In France, there is no minimum age at which a pregnant woman or girl may request a voluntary abortion – interruption volontaire de grossesse. A pregnant girl may either seek the consent of her parents (or her legal representative), or can proceed without informing them although she needs to be accompanied by an adult person of her choice.[66]

In countries where abortion is restricted, women regularly travel to neighbouring countries with more liberal laws. Almost 8,000 Irish women travelled to England and Wales for abortion each year in the early 2000s; however, this number decreased, year on year, to around 4,000 in 2018, and to less than 1,000 per year following changes in the law in Ireland and Northern Ireland.[67]