Access to abortion services

• Author: Pietruchova, Olga
• Pages: 11-14

Access to abortion services for women in the EU - Slovakia

PE 659.922 11

ACCESS TO ABORTION SERVICES

2.1. Procedure and methods available

To procure an abortion on demand, the woman must not have exceeded the twelfth week of her

pregnancy, and she must make a written request for an abortion to her gynaecologist. According to

the law mentioned above, the woman receives information from her gynaecologist about the possible

consequences of the procedure and the alternatives to abortion. Counselling and birth control

information is given to the woman, and she is referred to a hospital to terminate her pregnancy which

can be performed at earliest after 48 hours waiting period from the time of counselling.

If gestation is under 12 weeks, and there are no health contraindications for the procedure, the

procedure is to be performed by the hospital. If gestation is over 12 weeks or if other contraindications

exist, the request is reviewed by a medical committee. Beyond the first trimester, the pregnancy can be

terminated only if the woman’s life or health is endangered or in the case of suspected foetal

impairment as mentioned above.

The only legal recognised method of abortion in Slovakia is surgical abortion. Women in Slovakia

do not have access to medical abortion even though the Slovak Drug Agency has legally registered

Medabon a Mifegyne (the pill) in 20136. However, because of the pressure of the religious and

conservative institutions and actors7, the Ministry of Health has not authorised the pill to enter the

market in Slovakia8. The abortion pill, deemed the safest method available by experts, is thus not

legal in Slovakia. Since the provision of abortion, which is not compliant with the law, is considered a

crime in Slovakia9, the pill is not provided by any health facility. Consequently, some women travel to

Austria for this procedure or obtain the pill online.

6 https://www.sukl.sk/hlavna-stranka/slovenska-verzia/media/tlacove-spravy/aktualne-informacie-tykajuce-sa-liekov-s-obsahom-

mifepristonu?page_id=3260

7 https://www.tkkbs.sk/view.php?cisloclanku=20130111015

8 https://spravy.pravda.sk/domace/clanok/323472-potratova-tabletka-na-slovensku-nebude/

9 § 151 of the Penal Code

Box 1: Main legal problems and challenges

• Unnecessary waiting period before abortion.

• Informed consent with the personal details of the woman is provided to the National

Health Informat ion Centre.

• Parental consent obligatory for all girls under 18.

• Missing legal regulation on abortion in a case of rape.

Recommendations:

• Removing the obligatory waiting period before abortion.

• Ensuring that the personal data are not further provided to authorities and stay in the

personal medical documentation.

• Revising the list of indications for the abortion provided for a medical reasons and include

a case of rape or intimate partners violence.