Abortion in Europe explained

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.

In most European countries, abortion is generally permitted within a term limit below fetal viability (e.g. 12 weeks in Germany and Italy, or 14 weeks in France and Spain), although a wide range of exceptions permit abortion later in the pregnancy.^{[1] [2]} The longest term limits – in terms of gestation – are in the United Kingdom and in the Netherlands, both at 24 weeks of gestation.

Abortion is subsidized or fully funded in many European countries. Grounds for abortion are highly restricted in Poland and in the smaller jurisdictions of Monaco, Liechtenstein, Malta and the Faroe Islands, and abortion is prohibited in Andorra.^[3]

The European Court of Human Rights, summarising its abortion-related case law, in the Vo v France ruling in 2004, noted the "diversity of views on the point at which life begins, of legal cultures and of national standards of protection" and therefore, in a European context, the nation-state "has been left with considerable discretion in the matter."^[4]

History

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.^[5] In the modern era, formal support services have included adoption, fostering and foundling hospitals.

Ancient Greece and Rome

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:^[6]

Much of what is known about the methods and practice of abortion in Greek and Roman history comes from early classical texts. Abortion, as a gynecological procedure, was primarily the province of women who were either midwives or well-informed laypeople. In his Theaetetus, Plato mentions a midwife's ability to induce abortion in the early stages of pregnancy.^{[7] [8] [9]} A fragment attributed to the poet Lysias "suggests that abortion was a crime in Athens against the husband, if his wife was pregnant when he died, since his unborn child could have claimed the estate."^[10]

Tertullian, a 2nd- and 3rd-century Christian theologian, described surgical implements which were used in a procedure similar to modern dilation and evacuation.^[11]

Development of Christian perspectives

An early Christian understanding of preventing abortion and infanticide was outlined in the 1st century Didache, which was published in Syria or Palestine and became widely available in Europe with the growth of the early Church.^[12]

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.^[13]

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^[14] and through the 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church:^[15]

Eastern Orthodox Christianity has similarly strongly condemned abortion. The Russian Orthodox Church's Social Concept states:^[16]

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:^[17]

The bishops of the Anglican Communion expressed opposition to abortion at the 1930 Lambeth Conference.^[18] The 1958 Lambeth Conference's Family in Contemporary Society report affirmed the following position on abortion^[19] and was commended by the 1968 Conference:^[20]

Development of other faith and secular perspectives

Islamic and Jewish perspectives on abortion differ according to the scholarship followed. All Islamic schools of thought agree that abortion is recommended when the mother's life is in danger as the mother's life is paramount. The author of Sahih al-Bukhari (Book of Hadith) writes that the unborn child is believed to become a living soul after 120 days of gestation.^[21]

Abortion has been questioned from a secular perspective, drawing on modern understandings of science and human rights,^[22] although the potential to legalise and increase the availability of abortion was supported by secular and libertarian feminists and socialists from the mid-19th century onwards. The 1871 Paris Commune, for example, declared:^[23]

Eastern Europe

The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic was the first country in Europe to legalise abortion in 1920^[24] 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.^[25]

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.^{[26] [27]}

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^[28] was accompanied by similar changes in:

• Hungary – 1953^[29]
• Poland and Bulgaria – 1956^[30]
• Czechoslovakia and Romania – 1957^[31]

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.^[32]

While abortion is more widely available in Hungary and Slovakia, the Constitution of Slovakia describes human life as "worthy of protection already before birth"^[33] and the Constitution of Hungary states that "embryonic and foetal life shall be subject to protection from the moment of conception."^[34]

Scandinavia

Sweden was the first liberal democracy in Europe to legalise abortion, in 1938; this move was followed by the introduction of limited abortion laws in Denmark in 1939,^[35] Finland in 1950,^[36] and Norway in 1964. More liberal abortion laws were introduced in Norway in 1964, Finland in 1970, and Denmark and Iceland in 1973.

Greenland has followed Denmark's liberal policy on abortion, and has at times experienced more abortions than live births taking place,^[37] whereas the Faroe Islands have maintained a more conservative approach; the issue was transferred to the Faroese Parliament (Løgting) in 2018.^[38]

The Parliament of Norway (Storting) legislated in 2015 that an unborn child is presumed to be viable at 21 weeks and 6 days unless there are specific reasons otherwise.^[39] The law was clarified as survival after abortion was recorded in some cases at 22 or 23 weeks of gestation.^[40]

Western Europe

The Abortion Act 1967, in Great Britain, was the first major liberalisation of abortion law in Western Europe. English law had previously allowed for abortion on limited grounds under the Infant Life Preservation Act 1929 (also protecting the life of the pregnant woman) and from 1938 under the Bourne judgment in cases where a pregnancy would result in a pregnant woman becoming a "mental and physical wreck".^[41] Abortion continued to be limited to those grounds in Northern Ireland as the issue was devolved to the Northern Ireland Parliament.^[42]

Abortion on request during the first 12 weeks of a pregnancy was permitted in East Germany from 1972. The same policy was enacted in West Germany in 1974 but was ruled unconstitutional in 1975 by the Federal Constitutional Court as it infringed on the right to life of the unborn child. A revised law, with restrictions on abortion, was introduced in 1976.

The court ruled that a "life developing in the mother's womb is under the protection of the Constitution as an independent legal interest" and that the "protective duty of the State prohibits not only direct governmental encroachments upon the developing life but, in addition, commands the State to adopt a protective and encouraging role in regard to this life." This obligation was balanced with the rights of the mother – therefore permitting abortion in certain circumstances – although with the protection of fetal life, in principle, taking precedence.^[43]

The law on abortion in France was liberalised in 1975 and the changes in France and Germany were followed by similar changes in the law elsewhere in Europe:

• Austria – 1975^[44]
• Italy and Luxembourg – 1978^{[45] [46]}
• Netherlands and Portugal – 1984^{[47] [48]}
• Spain – 1985^[49]
• Greece – 1986^[50]
• Belgium – 1990^[51]
• Switzerland – 2002^[52]

King Baudouin of Belgium, a devout Catholic, stepped aside from his role as monarch due to his conscientious objection to abortion legislation in 1990; the law was approved by the Government of Belgium (acting as head of state) and Baudouin resumed his reign one day later. King Baudouin's letter on the issue, to his then Prime Minister, Wilfried Martens, is displayed in the BELvue Museum in Brussels.

The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, approved by referendum in 1983, and the subsequent Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013 limited abortion to cases where the pregnant woman's life was endangered. The law on abortion changed significantly to a very liberal policy in Ireland when, in 2018, the Eighth Amendment was repealed by a subsequent referendum. The resulting law allowed for abortion on request up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, and on more limited grounds at later stages.

Abortion in Northern Ireland was liberalised in 2019 and 2020, from being permitted in cases of "risk of real and serious adverse effect on ... physical or mental health, which is either long term or permanent" to being available on request up to 12 weeks and on further grounds later in pregnancy.^[53]

In March 2024, France became the first country to excplicitly include the right to abortion in the Constitution influenced by the overturning of Roe v. Wade ruling in the US in 2022.^{[54] [55]}

Grounds for abortion by jurisdiction

In most European nation-states and other territories, there is a legally defined term limit before which abortion is more available than afterwards.^[56] 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 under certain conditions.

The grounds on which abortion is, or is not, available vary according to differences in national laws, policies and practices, which may include:

• circumstances in which abortion is allowed after the first trimester of a pregnancy;^{[57] [58]}
• whether or not counselling or a waiting time (known as Bedenkzeit in Germany) between the request and the requested termination is required;
• availability and cost of medicines or equipment for the procedure;
• levels of support or objection from medical and other healthcare professionals (for example, widespread conscientious objection in Italy);^{[59] [60]}
• whether the parents of a girl requesting an abortion are required to give consent for (or be informed of) an abortion to end an under-age pregnancy.^{[61] [62]}

In countries and territories where abortion is more restricted, women regularly travel to neighbouring countries with more liberal laws. For example, almost 8,000 women from the island of Ireland travelled to England and Wales for abortions 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.^[63]

At present, a 10-week term limit is accepted in law in countries which were formerly part of Yugoslavia, whereas the 12-week limits has been adopted in most jurisdictions (including former republics of the Soviet Union and also most central European countries). Higher term limits are comparatively less common and are in place in France (14 weeks), Sweden (18 weeks), Iceland (22 weeks), and the Netherlands (24 weeks).^[64]

Countries with no formal term limit in law include those with more restrictive laws and Great Britain, which has a strongly liberal law and policy; almost 89% abortions in England and Wales in 2021 were undertaken before 10 weeks of gestation, 1 per cent after 20 weeks, and 0.1% after 24 weeks.^[65]

National abortion laws

Name	Elective term limit	Permitted further grounds
Albania	12 weeks	At any stage: Risk to life or health of pregnant woman Severe (incurable) malformation of unborn child Up to 22 weeks: Social reasons Pregnancy as a result of sexual crime^[66]
Andorra	Not applicable	Double effect principle – saving the life of the woman may have the unintended consequence of ending a pregnancy.^[67]
Armenia	12 weeks	Up to 22 weeks: Pregnant woman deprived of maternal rights during pregnancy Divorce Pregnancy as a result of rape Medical grounds related to the health of pregnant woman Congenital abnormality in unborn child^[68]
Austria	13 weeks	Immediate danger to life of pregnant woman Serious danger to life or to the physical or mental health of pregnant woman Serious danger of serious physical or mental defect in unborn child Pregnant woman became pregnant when under 14 years of age^[69]
Azerbaijan	12 weeks	At any stage: Child with disabilities in family Disability of husband Up to 22 weeks: Death of husband during pregnancy Court order depriving or restricting parental rights Refugee or internally displaced person status Lack of housing Recognition of woman or husband as unemployed Presence of woman or husband in place of imprisonment Extra-marital pregnancy Dissolution of marriage during pregnancy Pregnancy as a result of rape Multiple children in family (5 or more)^[70] Azerbaijan has high levels of sex-selective abortion, resulting in the birth of more sons than daughters.^[71]
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^[72]
Belgium	12 weeks	At any stage: Serious threat to life of pregnant woman Child will suffer from incurable disease if born (based on current scientific knowledge)^[73]
Bosnia and Herzegovina	10 weeks	Between 10 and 20 weeks: Risk to life and health of pregnant woman Risk to physical or mental health of unborn child Pregnancy as a result of sexual crime After 20 weeks: Saving life or health of pregnant woman^[74] Counselling before and after an abortion is required in Republika Srpska.^[75]
Bulgaria	12 weeks	Up to 20 weeks: Risk to health of pregnant woman and unborn child At any stage: Risk to life of pregnant woman Severe malformation in unborn child^[76]
Croatia	10 weeks	At any stage: Risk to life of pregnant woman Risk of damage to health of pregnant woman Risk of severe congenital physical or mental defects in unborn child Pregnancy as a result of sexual crime A pregnancy may not be terminated if it is demonstrated that this could seriously harm the health of the pregnant woman.^[77]
Cyprus^[78]	12 weeks	At any stage: Risk to physical or mental health of pregnant woman Up to 19 weeks: Pregnancy as a result of sexual crime Up to 24 weeks: Severe abnormality in unborn child^[79]
Czechia	12 weeks	At any stage: Danger to the life of pregnant woman Serious malformation in unborn child Unborn child considered 'incapable of life' Up to 24 weeks: Genetic grounds for abortion^[80]
Denmark	12 weeks	In second trimester: Risk to life of pregnant woman Risk of severe deterioration in physical or mental health of pregnant woman Risk of deterioration of the health of pregnant woman due to existing or potential physical or mental illness (or as a consequence of other conditions) Danger that unborn child will be affected by serious physical or mental disorder Pregnant woman considered incapable of giving proper care to child due to physical or mental disability Pregnant woman considered incapable (for the time) of giving proper care to child due to her youth or immaturity Pregnancy, childbirth or care of child considered to constitute a serious burden to pregnant woman (which cannot otherwise be averted) Pregnancy as a result of a criminal act^[81]
Estonia	12 weeks	Up to 22 weeks: Risk to health of pregnant woman Severe mental or physical health disorder in unborn child Medical condition in pregnant woman prevents development of unborn child Pregnant woman is under 15 years of age Pregnant woman is over 45 years of age^[82]
Finland	12 weeks	At any stage: Risk to health of pregnant woman Up to 20 weeks: Care of child after birth would be considerable strain for pregnant woman Parent has medical condition that will cause difficulty in caring for child Pregnancy as a result of sexual crime Probable serious illness or disability in unborn child Pregnant woman was under 17 years of age at conception Pregnant woman was over 40 years of age at conception Pregnant woman has previously given birth to four or more children Up to 24 weeks: Serious illness or disability in unborn child Permission is needed from National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira) for abortions on social grounds or related to serious illness or disability in unborn child.^[83]
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^[84] The Constitution of France, as amended in 2024, guarantees the freedom of a woman "to have recourse to a voluntary termination of pregnancy".^[85]
Germany	12 weeks	Up to 12 weeks: Pregnancy as a result of criminal offence Up to 22 weeks: Danger to life of pregnant woman Danger of grave impairment to physical or mental health of pregnant woman Exceptional distress (at discretion of court) All abortions must be performed by a physician.^[86]
Georgia	12 weeks	Available after 12 weeks on medical and social grounds not specified in law but defined by the Ministry of Labour, Health Care and Social Security. Counselling is required before an abortion with a three-day waiting time. Parental consent for abortion is required in cases where a girl under 14 years of age is pregnant.^[87]
Great Britain^[88]	Not applicable	At any stage: Risk to 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^[89]
Greece	12 weeks	At any stage: Risk to life of pregnant woman Risk of serious and continuous damage to physical or mental health of pregnant woman Up to 19 weeks: Pregnancy as a result of rape or incest Up to 24 weeks: Abnormality in unborn child^[90]
Hungary	Not applicable	At any stage: Risk to life of pregnant woman Malformation in unborn child renders post-natal life impossible Up to 12 weeks: Severe danger to health of pregnant woman Probable severe disability or other impairment in unborn child Pregnancy as a result of criminal act Severe crisis situation for pregnant woman Up to 18 weeks on grounds for 12 weeks where: Pregnant woman partly or fully incapacitated Pregnant woman did not recognise pregnancy in time Term limit lapsed due to failure of health institution or authority Up to 20 weeks (and 24 weeks for delayed diagnoses): Probability of malformation in unborn child is 50% or more^[91] The Constitution of Hungary, adopted in 2011, protects "the life of the foetus ... from the moment of conception" in its right to life and human dignity.^[92]
Iceland	22 weeks	At any stage: Risk to life of pregnant woman Life of unborn child is not considered to be viable^[93]
Ireland	12 weeks	At any stage: Immediate serious risk to life or of serious harm to health of a pregnant woman (in an emergency) Condition affecting unborn child that is likely to lead to his or her death (either before, or within 28 days of, birth) Up to viability:^[94] Serious risk to life of pregnant woman Serious risk of harm to health of pregnant woman^[95]
Italy	12 weeks	At any stage: Serious threat to life of pregnant woman from pregnancy or childbirth Diagnosis of pathological processes constituting serious threat to physical or mental health of pregnant woman (e.g. associated with serious abnormalities or malformations in unborn child) Up to 12 weeks: Serious danger to physical or mental health of pregnant woman due to continuation of pregnancy, childbirth, or motherhood (in view of state of health, economic, social, or family circumstances, or the circumstances in which conception occurred) Probability of abnormalities or malformations in unborn child^[96]
Kazakhstan^[97]	12 weeks	At any stage: Risk to life of pregnant woman Malformation in unborn child From 12 weeks up to 22 weeks: Death of husband during pregnancy Confinement of pregnant woman or her husband Unemployment of pregnant woman or husband Unmarried status of pregnant woman Deprivation or limitation of parental rights Pregnancy as a result of rape Refugee or forced migrant status of pregnant woman Disabled child in family Divorce during pregnancy Four or more children in family Pregnant woman is under 18 years of age^[98]
Latvia	12 weeks	Up to 12 weeks: Pregnancy as a result of rape Up to 22 weeks: On medical indications grounds^[99]
Liechtenstein	Not applicable	Immediate danger to life of pregnant woman Serious danger to life or health of pregnant woman Pregnancy as a result of sexual offence Pregnant woman was under-age at time of conception^[100]
Lithuania	12 weeks	Up to 22 weeks: Risk to life of pregnant woman Risk to physical health of pregnant woman Risk to mental health of pregnant woman Risk of malformation in unborn child^[101]
Luxembourg	12 weeks	At any stage: Serious threat to the health or life of pregnant woman Serious threat to the health or life of unborn child^[102]
Malta	Not applicable	Up to viability:^[103] Immediate risk to life of pregnant woman from medical complication Grave jeopardy to health of pregnant woman (which may lead to death from medical complication)^[104]
Moldova	12 weeks	Up to 22 weeks: Pregnant woman aged under 18 or over 40 years Pregnancy as a result of rape, incest or trafficking Divorce during pregnancy Death of husband during pregnancy Imprisonment of one or both spouses Deprivation of parental rights of one or both spouses Migrant status Pregnant woman has 5 or more children Pregnant woman cares for child aged under 2 years (or for one or more family members) with serious disability Combination of lack of housing, lack of financial resources, alcohol or drug abuse, domestic violence and/or homelessness After 22 weeks: Congenital severe malformation in unborn child considered incompatible with life (defined as an induced premature birth rather than abortion)^[105]
Monaco	Not applicable	Risk to health of pregnant woman Pregnancy as a result of rape Irreversible health defect in unborn child Pregnant women living in Monaco are permitted to seek abortion outside the jurisdiction (up to 12 weeks).^[106]
Montenegro	10 weeks	Up to 20 weeks: Approval by medical committee in cases of serious disability in unborn child, pregnancy as a result of sexual crime, or difficult family circumstances From 20 to 32 weeks: Approval by ethics committee in cases involving medical reasons or serious disability in unborn child From 32 weeks: Risk to life of pregnant woman^[107]
Netherlands	13 weeks	Up to viability defined as 24 weeks (22 weeks in practice) where a pregnant woman attests to a state of distress, to be jointly defined by her and a doctor.^[108]
North Macedonia	12 weeks	Risk to life and health of pregnant woman Risk to physical or mental health of unborn child Pregnancy as a result of sexual crime Social or economic grounds^[109]
Norway	12 weeks	Up to viability defined as 22 weeks: Pregnancy, childbirth or care of child may result in unreasonable adverse physical, mental, or economic impact on the woman Major risk that the unborn child may suffer from serious birth defects Pregnancy as a result of rape The pregnant woman has a mental illness or physical disability^[110]
Poland	Not applicable	Danger to life of pregnant woman Danger to health of pregnant woman Pregnancy as a result of a criminal act^[111]
Portugal	10 weeks	At any stage: Unviable unborn child Danger to life of pregnant woman Serious and lasting danger to physical or mental health of pregnant woman Up to 12 weeks: Danger to life of pregnant woman Serious and lasting danger to physical or mental health of pregnant woman Up to 16 weeks: Pregnancy as a result of sexual violence Up to 24 weeks: Probability of incurable serious disease or congenital malformation in unborn child^[112]
Romania	14 weeks	At any stage: For therapeutic purposes in the interests of pregnant woman or unborn child Up to 24 weeks: For therapeutic purposes in the interests (and performed by a obstetricsian or gynaecologist)^[113]
Russia	12 weeks	At any stage: Medical reasons (include severe abnormality in unborn child and condition endangering health and life of pregnant woman) Up to 22 weeks: Pregnancy as a result of rape Imprisonment of pregnant woman Deprivation of parental rights Death or severe disability of husband Social grounds (as decided by special commission)^[114]
San Marino	12 weeks	At any stage: Risk to life of pregnant woman Up to viability: Abnormality or malformation in unborn child causing serious risk for health of pregnant woman Pregnancy as a result of sexual crime^[115]
Serbia	10 weeks	At any stage: Risk to llife or health of the woman From 10 weeks to 20 weeks: Pregnancy as a result of sexual crime Psychological trauma to pregnant woman Social and economic reasons^[116]
Slovakia	12 weeks	Danger to life of pregnant woman Danger to health of pregnant woman Danger to healthy development of unborn child Genetic abnormality in development of unborn child^[117] The Constitution of Slovakia, adopted in 1992, states that human life is "worthy of protection even before birth" in its right to life.^[118]
Slovenia	10 weeks	Up to 28 weeks: Approval by medical committee Abortions are considered stillbirths after 22 weeks.^[119]
Spain	14 weeks	TurUp to 22 weeks: Risk to life or health of pregnant woman Serious abnormality in unborn child At any stage: Malformation in unborn child deemed incompatible with life Diagnosis of extreme or incurable disease in unborn child^[120]
Sweden	18 weeks	Up to 22 weeks: Serious medical risk to life or health of pregnant woman^[121]
Switzerland	12 weeks	Prevention of serious physical harm Prevention of serious psychological harm^[122]
Turkey	10 weeks	Risk to life of pregnant woman Severe impairment in unborn child^[123]
Ukraine	12 weeks	Medical reasons Pregnancy as a result of rape
Vatican City	Not applicable	Double effect principle – saving the life of pregnant woman may have the unintended consequence of ending a pregnancy, as permitted under the Italian Penal Code in effect.^[124]

Territories and regions

The Akrotiri and Dhekelia Sovereign Base Areas of the United Kingdom on the island of Cyprus reflect the Abortion Act 1967 in policy with grounds allowing for aboriton in cases of risk to the life of the pregnant woman, grave permanent injury to her physical or mental health, risk of injury to her physical or mental health (or that of any existing children of the family) and disability in the unborn child; the law was codified in a military ordinance in 1974.^[125]

The Faroe Islands, as a self-governing region within the Kingdom of Denmark, permits abortion on the limited grounds of risk to life, risk of harm to the pregnant woman's health, a high risk of a birth defect in the unborn child, or in cases where the pregnancy was caused by sexual crime.^[126]

Gibraltar, as a British Overseas Territory, is self-governing in terms of abortion law and allows for the grounds of risk of injury to physical or mental health of the pregnant woman (up to 12 weeks of gestation), and risk to life, grave permanent injury, or a substantial risk of fatal foetal abnormality (life-limiting condition) in the unborn child at any stage.^[127]

The Crown Dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man have similar laws to neighbouring England and Wales.

In Guernsey, abortion is permitted at any stage for an immediate risk to life, to prevent grave permanent injury, and on disability grounds. Up to 24 weeks, abortion is permitted on broad health grounds, where there would be a risk of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman or her existing children.^[128] Guernsey legislation on the issue is also applicable in Alderney.^[129]

The law in Jersey is more liberal in early pregnancy, permitted abortion on request up to 12 weeks, but more limited thereafter. Disability-related grounds are limited to serious disabilities diagnosed before viability (at 24 weeks) and a risk to life or grave permanent injury are grounds throughout pregnancy.^[130]

The Isle of Man has a highly structured law which allows for 14-week term limit for abortion on request. From 14 weeks to 24 weeks, abortion is legal where the pregnancy was caused by sexual crime or involves serious social grounds for a termination, or substantial risks of serious injury to the woman's life or health, or that the unborn child would be disabled. From 24 week, grounds are limited to risk to life, grave long-term injury, and serious disabilites in the unborn child.^[131]

Abortion law in Northern Ireland was previously devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly but was liberalised by the UK Parliament in 2019 when the Assembly was suspended. The law currently allows for a 12-week term limit, in line with the rest of Ireland, and grounds for risk of injury to physical or mental health (up to 24 weeks), and risk to life, grave permanent injury, and disabilities at any stage.^[132]

In Scotland, abortion law was devolved to the Scottish Parliament through the Scotland Act 2016 but no changes have followed and the law therefore continues to align with England and Wales.

Contested jurisdictions

Several states with limited recognition exist in Europe, following armed conflicts which resulted in their formation. For example, Abkhazia and South Ossetia are internationally recognised as part of Georgia whereas Transnistria has de facto been separated from Moldova.

Social policy in these states may reflect laws introduced under a previous jurisdiction or by a protecting power which guarantees the security of the territory. Laws in Kosovo derive from Yugoslav law with a 10-week term limit for abortion on request^[133] and Northern Cyprus has adopted the same policy, although this follows the approach taken in Turkey which solely recognises it as a jurisdiction.

Notes and References

1. News: Kessler . Glenn . 2023-01-20 . Analysis The GOP claim that Democrats support abortion 'up to moment of birth' . Washington Post . en-US . 0190-8286.
2. Web site: Greenberg . Jon . PolitiFact - Fact-check: How Mississippi's abortion law compares with laws in Europe . @politifact . en-US.
3. See table below for a full outline of abortion laws by jurisdiction in Europe.
4. Web site: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/fre#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-61887%22} Case of Vo. v France (Application no. 53924/00) ]. European Court of Human Rights . 29 February 2024 . Strasbourg . 8 July 2004.
5. Lester . Anne E. . 2007 . Lost but not yet Found: Medieval Foundlings and their Care in Northern France, 1200–1500 . Proceedings of the Western Society for French History . en . 35 . 2573-5012.
6. Dunn . Peter M. . Soranus of Ephesus (circa AD 98-138) and perinatal care in Roman times . Archives of Disease in Childhood: Fetal and Neonatal Edition . July 1995 . 73 . 1 . 51–52 . BMJ Publishing Group. 10.1136/fn.73.1.f51 . 7552600 . 2528358 .
7. Depierri . Kate P. . March 1968 . One Way of Unearthing the Past . The American Journal of Nursing . 68 . 3 . 521–524 . 10.2307/3453443 . 4865614 . Lippincott Williams &#38. 3453443 .
8. [Plato]
9. https://books.google.com/books?id=fVZXBeNCffwC Johannes M. Röskamp, Christian Perspectives On Abortion-Legislation In Past And Present (GRIN Verlag 2005
10. Encyclopedia: Long . George . George Long (scholar) . Abortio . William Smith . William Smith (lexicographer) . . 1 . 2 . . Boston . 1870 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100213213407/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-dgra/0009.html . 2010-02-13 .
11. [Tertullian]
12. Web site: Lake . Kirsopp . Didache, or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, Chapter 2, verse 2 . www.wikisource.org . Unknown . 11 August 2022 . 1912.
13. Bianca's Story Revisited . EU Scream. James Kanter . 31 July 2022. 7 August 2022.
14. Book: Evangelium Vitae . 1995 . Libreria Editrice Vaticana . Vatican City State . 9780851839516 . 11 March 2023.
15. Book: Catechism of the Catholic Church - IntraText . 1994 . Libreria Editrice Vaticana . Vatican City State . 9780225666915 . 11 March 2023 . Paragraphs 2270 and 2271 in 'Respect for Human Life' section..
16. Web site: Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church, Problems of bioethics . www.russianorthodoxchurch.ca . 28 June 2014 . Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church, Canada. . 7 April 2023.
17. Web site: Roach . David . Reformers' pro-life views recounted . Baptist Press . Southern Baptist Convention . 11 March 2023 . 1 February 2017.
18. Web site: The Lambeth Conference: Resolutions Archive from 1930 . Anglican Consultative Council . 19 August 2023 . 2005.
19. Book: The Lambeth Conference 1958: Resolutions and Reports . 1958 . SPCK and Seabury Press.
20. Web site: Lambeth Conference Resolution 22, Responsible Parenthood . Anglican Consultative Council . 19 August 2023 . 10 . 2005.
21. "(The matter of the Creation of) a human being is put together in the womb of the mother in 40 days(some say 120), and then he becomes a clot of thick blood for a similar period, and then a piece of flesh for a similar period. Then Allah sends an angel who is ordered to write four things...then the soul is breathed into him"
    
22. Web site: Karpenko . Georgii . Debunking the Pro-abortion Narrative from a Secular Perspective . Hungarian Conservative . 25 December 2023 . Budapest . 16 August 2023.
23. Web site: Núcleo Psol UFMG: Decretos da Comuna de Paris de 1871. Psolufmg.blogspot.com. 24 August 2018.
24. Avdeev . Alexandre . Blum . Alain . Troitskaya . Irina . 1995 . The History of Abortion Statistics in Russia and the USSR from 1900 to 1991 . Population: An English Selection . 7 . 39–66 . 2949057 . 1169-1018.
25. Book: Stites, Richard . The women's liberation movement in Russia : feminism, nihilism, and bolshevism, 1860-1930 . 1991 . Princeton University Press . 0-691-10058-6 . 1061494860.
26. Book: Ferree, Myra Marx . Myra Marx Ferree . Shaping abortion discourse: democracy and the public sphere in Germany and the United States . 2002 . Cambridge University Press . 9780521793841 .
27. Book: Grossmann, Atina . Reforming Sex: The German Movement for Birth Control and Abortion Reform, 1920–1950 . 1997 . Oxford University Press . 9780195363517 .
28. Указ Президиума ВС СССР от 23.11.1955 об отмене запрещения абортов . Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Council of 11.23.1955 on the abolition of the prohibition of abortion . Указ Президиума ВС СССР от 23.11.1955 об отмене запрещения абортов . 23 November 1955 . Russian . ru . yes.
29. https://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/abortion/doc/hungary.doc Hungary - ABORTION POLICY - United Nations
30. Web site: Rätten till abort - Fokus SRHR - Sex och politik - RFSU . 1 May 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100830060806/http://www.rfsu.se/sv/Sex-och-politik/Fokus-SRHR/Ratten-till-abort/Polenaffaren/ . 30 August 2010 .
31. Kligman, Gail. "Political Demography: The Banning of Abortion in Ceausescu's Romania". In Ginsburg, Faye D.; Rapp, Rayna, eds. Conceiving the New World Order: The Global Politics of Reproduction. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1995 :234-255. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE KIE/49442.
32. News: Poland abortion: Top court bans almost all terminations. BBC News . 23 October 2020 . 23 October 2020.
33. Web site: Constitution of Slovakia, Article 15.1 . www.constituteproject.org . Constitute Project . 19 August 2023 . 1992.
34. Web site: Constitution of Hungary, Article II . www.constituteproject.org . Constitute Project . 19 August 2023 . 2011.
35. http://www.kvinfo.dk/side/680/article/58/ The rocky road to abortion on demand
36. Pirkko Niemelä. 1988. "Finland." Pg. 152-69 in International Handbook on Abortion. Ed. Paul Sachdev. New York: Greenwood Press
37. News: Zhao . Didong . Greenland: more abortions than births . 29 December 2023 . Copenhagen Post . 14 July 2022.
38. See references in Abortion in Denmark article.
39. https://lovdata.no/dokument/SF/forskrift/2001-06-15-635 Forskrift om svangerskapsavbrudd (abortforskriften)
40. Christine Svendsen (12 May 2012) Aborterte fostre levde i over en time før hjertet hadde sluttet å slå NRK. Retrieved 3 January 2013
41. R v Bourne [1939] 1 KB 687, [1938] 3 All ER 615, Court of Criminal Appeal
42. The Government of Ireland Act 1920 transferred matters of criminal law to Northern Ireland, governed by the socially conservative Ulster Unionist Party until 1972, and Southern Ireland which subsequently became the independent the Republic of Ireland under Catholic influence. The UK Parliament decided not to impose changes in abortion law but proceeded with liberalisation in 2019 when the locally-elected Northern Ireland Assembly was not operating.
43. Web site: Jann . Edmund C. . The abortion decision of February 25, 1975 of the Federal Constitutional Court, Federal Republic of Germany . www.loc.gov. 19 August 2023 . 1975.
44. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/population/abortion/Austria.abo.htm Austria. Federal Law of 23 January 1974. (Bundesgesetzblatt, No. 60, 1974.)
45. Web site: Abortion Legislation in Europe . January 2015 . www.loc.gov . en . Acosta, Luis . Yatsunska-Poff, Olena . Zeldin, Wendy . Boring, Nicolas . Hofverberg, Elin . Feikert-Ahalt, Clare . Figueroa, Dante . Soares, Eduardo . Roudik, Peter . Rodriguez-Ferrand, Graciela . 2018-05-18.
46. Book: Abortion Policies: A Global Review . 2002 . United Nations Population Division . 2 . 2 January 2013 . DOC.
47. Web site: Zaken . Ministerie van Algemene . 2015-05-11 . Abortion . 2022-03-08 . www.government.nl . en-GB.
48. Vicente . Lisa Ferreira . 2020-04-06 . Aborto por opção da mulher: a experiência portuguesa da implementação da Rede Nacional . Cadernos de Saúde Pública . pt . 36 . Suppl 1 . e00036219 . 32267398 . 0102-311X . 10.1590/0102-311x00036219 . free.
49. Ley Orgánica 9/1985, del 5 de julio, de reforma del Artículo 417 bis del Código Penal . https://archive.today/20120630075111/http://www.boe.es/aeboe/consultas/bases_datos/doc.php?coleccion=iberlex&id=1985/14138 . 30 June 2012 . es . . dead . 23 July 2012 . dmy-all .
50. Ioannidi-Kapolou . Elizabeth . January 2004 . Use of Contraception and Abortion in Greece: A Review . Reproductive Health Matters . 12 . sup24 . 174–183 . 10.1016/s0968-8080(04)24001-0 . 15938171 . 10077100 . 0968-8080.
51. Belgian King, Unable to Sign Abortion Law, Takes Day Off . Paul L. . Montgomery . The New York Times on the Web . 5 April 1990 . A4 . 11647425 . 31 March 2023.
52. Full vote results by Swiss canton: http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/pore/va/20020602/can487.html
53. News: Northern Ireland abortion and same-sex marriage laws change. BBC News. Chris. Page. 2019-10-22.
54. Web site: MSN . 2024-03-05 . www.msn.com.
55. News: 2024-03-04 . France makes abortion a constitutional right . 2024-03-05 . en-GB.
56. https://reproductiverights.org/europes-abortion-laws-comparative-overview Europe’s Abortion Laws: A Comparative Overview
57. Web site: 1973 Danish abortion law Lovitidende for Kongeriget Danmark . Harvard Law . 2013-07-02.
58. News: Rämö . Aurora . Suomessa abortin saa helposti, vaikka laki on yksi Euroopan tiukimmista . 10 August 2018 . Suomen Kuvalehti . 28 May 2018.
59. Web site: Abortion legislation in Europe . January 2007 . . 7 October 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130313162004/http://www.ippfen.org/NR/rdonlyres/2EB28750-BA71-43F8-AE2A-8B55A275F86C/0/Abortion_legislation_Europe_Jan2007.pdf . March 13, 2013 .
60. News: Tamma . Paola . Even where abortion is legal, access is not granted. 22 August 2018 . VoxEurop/EDJNet . 24 May 2018.
61. Web site: Interruption volontaire de grossesse (IVG) . 2022-03-03 . 2022-07-05.
62. Web site: Serbia: abortion law. Marc. Worrell. Women on Waves.
63. Web site: Abortion statistics, England and Wales: 2021, Abortions for women from the Irish Republic . www.gov.uk . Department of Health . 31 March 2023 . 2022.
64. Information provided in table below and related sources.
65. Web site: Abortion statistics, England and Wales: 2021 . Department of Health and Social Care . 29 December 2023 . 2023.
66. Web site: Abortion legislation in Europe . IPPF Europe . 29 December 2023 . 6–7 . September 2012.
67. Web site: Nouveau Code Palénal . www.legislationonline.org . OSCE . 11 March 2023.
68. Web site: Country Profile: Armenia . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 2012.
69. Web site: Federal Law of 23 January 1974. (Bundesgesetzblatt, No. 60, 1974.) . Harvard University. 11 March 2023.
70. Web site: Country Profile: Azerbaijan . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 20 April 2024 . 15 December 2023.
71. Web site: Gender-Biased Sex Selection . UN Population Fund . 20 April 2024 . Baku.
72. Denisov . Boris P . Sakevich . Victoria I . Jasilioniene . Aiva . Divergent Trends in Abortion and Birth Control Practices in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine . PLOS ONE . November 2012 . 7 . 11 . 4 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0049986 . 23349656 . 3542819 . 2012PLoSO...749986D . free .
73. Web site: How an abortion works . www.vub.be . VUB University . 24 December 2023 . Brussels.
74. Web site: Country Profile: Bosnia and Herzegovina . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 28 November 2022.
75. Web site: Abortion legislation in Europe . IPPF Europe . 29 December 2023 . 15–16 . 2012.
76. Web site: Country Profile: Bulgaria . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 15 December 2023.
77. Web site: Contraception, sterilization, abortion, and artificial insemination, Law No. 1252-1978 of April 21, 1978 on health measures to implement the right to a free decision regarding the birth of children (Narodne Novine, May 4, 1978, No. 18 at 423-426), Articles 1-2, 15-28, 35-38 &, 41-44.* . Croatia’s Abortion Provisions . Centre for Reproductive Rights . 6 May 2024.
78. De facto in territory outside the Sovereign Base Areas and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (jurisdiction recognised only by Turkey).
79. Web site: Abortion Laws in Cyprus: A Comprehensive Overview . Laws of Cyprus . Chambers & Co. . 6 May 2024 . Limassol . 19 March 2023.
80. Web site: Country Profile: Czech Republic . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 15 December 2023.
81. Web site: Country Profile: Denmark . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 28 July 2022.
82. Web site: East Tallinn Central Hospital . Termination of pregnancy, (i.e. abortion) . www.eesti.ee . Government of Estonia . 29 June 2024 . Tallinn . 7 December 2022.
83. Web site: Abortion . www.infofinland.fi . City of Helsinki . 29 June 2024 . 24 June 2024.
84. Web site: Interruption médicale de grossesse (IMG) . 2021-08-06 . 2022-07-05.
85. Book: Constitution of France . 10 March 2024 . Government of France . 29 June 2024 . Article 34: Relations between Parliament and the Government . "La loi détermine les conditions dans lesquelles s'exerce la liberté garantie à la femme d'avoir recours à une interruption volontaire de grossesse.".
86. Web site: Articles 218 & 219, German Criminal Code . www.gesetze-im-internet.de . Federal Office of Justice . 31 March 2023.
87. Web site: Country Profile: Georgia . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 15 December 2023.
88. Legislation in Scotland is equivalent to England and Wales but devolved to Scottish Parliament. See further detail on Northern Ireland, Crown Dependencies and other territories below
89. Web site: Abortion statistics England and Wales 2020, Statutory grounds for abortion . www.gov.uk . Department of Health and Social Care . 11 March 2023.
90. Web site: Country Profile: Greece . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 15 December 2023.
91. Web site: Act LXXIX of 1992 on the protection of fetal life . www.reproductiverights.org . Centre for Reproductive Rights . 29 June 2024.
92. Web site: Fundamental Law of Hungary, Article II . Parliament of Hungary . Ministry of Justice . 30 June 2024 . 20 December 2020.
93. Web site: Termination of Pregnancy Act, No. 43/2019 . www.government.is . Government of Iceland . 29 June 2024 . 2019.
94. Defined as the point in a pregnancy at which, in the reasonable opinion of a medical practitioner, the unborn child is capable of survival outside the uterus without extraordinary life-sustaining measures (Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018, Part 2, clause 8).
95. Web site: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 . Irish Statute Book . Government of Ireland . 5 August 2023.
96. Web site: Law No. 194 of 22 May 1978 on the social protection of motherhood and the voluntary termination of pregnancy . www.columbia.edu . Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana . 30 June 2024 . 3642–3646 . 22 May 1978.
97. The sections of the West Kazakhstan and Atyrau regions, west of the Ural River, are considered part of Eastern Europe.
98. Web site: Country Profile: Kazakhstan . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 6 January 2023.
99. Web site: Country Profile: Latvia . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 15 December 2023.
100. Web site: Criminal Code of 24 June 1987 (as of 1 January 2021) . www.legislationline.org . 11 March 2023.
101. Web site: Country Profile: Lithuania . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 15 December 2023.
102. Web site: Requesting a voluntary termination of pregnancy . Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg . 24 December 2023.
103. Defined as the point in a pregnancy at which "the foetus is capable of living outside the uterus according to current medical practices" (Criminal Code, Article 243B)
104. Book: Criminal Code of Malta, Articles 241-243 . Government of Malta . Valletta, Malta . 122 . 30 July 2023.
105. Web site: Country Profile: Moldova . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 15 December 2023.
106. News: Monaco to decriminalise abortion, but no legalisation . 30 June 2024 . AFP . AFP . 5 August 2019.
107. Web site: Country Profile: Montenegro . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 15 December 2023.
108. Web site: Country Profile: Netherlands . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 15 December 2023.
109. Web site: Country Profile: North Macedonia . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 15 December 2023.
110. Web site: Country Profile: Norway . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 13 December 2022.
111. Web site: Country Profile: Poland . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 15 December 2023.
112. Web site: Country Profile: Portugal . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 15 December 2023.
113. Web site: Country Profile: Romania . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 28 November 2022.
114. Web site: Country Profile: Russian Federation . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 15 December 2023.
115. Web site: Law No. 127 of 7 September 2022 - Regulating voluntary termination of pregnancy . Consiglio Grande a Generale . Republic of San Marino . 16 August 2024.
116. Web site: Country Profile: Serbia . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 14 November 2018.
117. Web site: Country Profile: Slovakia . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 15 December 2023.
118. Web site: Constitution of Slovakia . Comparative Constitutions Project . University of Texas at Austin & University of Chicago . 30 June 2024 . 2017.
119. Web site: Country Profile: Slovenia . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 15 December 2023.
120. Web site: Country Profile: Spain . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 15 December 2023.
121. Web site: Country Profile: Sweden . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 15 December 2023.
122. Web site: Country Profile: Switzerland . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 27 October 2022.
123. Web site: Country Profile: Türkiye . Global Abortion Policies Database . World Health Organization . 16 August 2024 . 15 December 2023.
124. See paragraphs 2270-2275, Catechism of the Catholic Church.
125. Web site: Ordinance 9 of 1974 . Sovereign Base Administration . 25 December 2023.
126. Web site: Question S 1361 for the minister of justice. da. 9 January 2004. Folketinget. 1 June 2018.
127. Book: Crimes (Amendment) Act 2019 . 2019 . Government of Gibraltar . 29 June 2024.
128. Web site: Abortion (Guernsey) Law 1997 (as amended). States of Guernsey Legal Resources. 11 August 2024.
129. Web site: Abortion (Alderney) Law 2022. States of Guernsey Legal Resources. 11 August 2024.
130. Web site: Termination of Pregnancy (Jersey) Law 1997 . Jersey Legal Information Board . 24 December 2023.
131. Web site: Abortion Reform Act 2019 . Isle of Man Government . 24 December 2023.
132. Web site: Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 . www.legislation.gov.uk . National Archives . 11 March 2023.
133. Web site: Pregnancy and Family Planning in Kosovo: A Qualitative Study . UNFPA . UNFPA & University of Groningen . 30 June 2024 . 31 . December 2006.