The organisation noted that, according to the report, ‘out of 80 public hospitals, 46 (57.5%) stated that they do not perform abortions, 27 (33.7%) responded positively, and 7 (8.7%) avoided giving a clear “yes” or “no”.’
According to the Greek penal code, abortion is legal up to the 12th week of pregnancy, or up to the 19th week in cases where the pregnancy results from rape, the sexual abuse of a minor, incest or abuse of a woman unable to resist. It is also permitted until the end of pregnancy where there are indications of a serious foetal abnormality, the union said.
It added that refusal or severely restricted access to public hospital services, in practice, circumvents the right to legal abortion. While the Greek constitution does not explicitly guarantee the right to abortion, as the French constitution does, article 5, paragraph 1 guarantees the free development of the individual’s personality, which includes reproductive freedom.
The statement also noted that the European Court of Human Rights has already ruled in a series of decisions that access to legal abortion falls within the protective scope of article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, citing RR v Poland and P. and S. v Poland.
The Hellenic Union for Human Rights also said that, according to the NEWS247 report, all of the country’s health regions responded to a relevant question from the health ministry. Based on those data, 12 hospitals specifically stated that they do not provide voluntary terminations of pregnancy: the hospitals of Naxos, Limnos, Katerini, Veria, Edessa, Giannitsa, Kozani, Ptolemaida, Kastoria, Thebes, Karystos and Chania.
‘The state must ensure and guarantee to everyone living in the country the unhindered exercise of the right to legal abortion, which includes easy access to abortion in public hospitals, without that right being threatened by factors such as place of residence, the moral and political views of medical personnel, or the financial ability to travel to another city or obtain the relevant medical service in the private sector,’ the union said.
It added: ‘The limited access, according to the report, to a free and legal abortion procedure in a public hospital disproportionately affects vulnerable groups such as refugees, uninsured undocumented migrants, young women, minors, unemployed people and low-paid workers, and in effect abolishes their constitutionally guaranteed right to basic healthcare and their reproductive freedom.’
The Hellenic Union for Human Rights said it was concerned by the issue and would monitor developments closely, stressing that access to legal abortion is a core gender and reproductive right, and that its undermining, whether direct or indirect, is closely linked to the state of the rule of law itself.
‘The Chania hospital, showing immediate reflexes, took the necessary steps by announcing the creation of a Family Planning Clinic for voluntary terminations of pregnancy. We expect other hospitals to follow suit,’ the statement concluded.
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