Kyrgyzstan restricts abortions

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KYRGYZSTAN — The Kyrgyz government has issued new restrictions on conditions under which pregnancies can be terminated. They are part of a national strategy to protect reproductive health up to 2015.

Under the new policy, abortions can be performed up to the 22nd week of pregnancy with the consent of both spouses or the woman, if she is unmarried. Minors require approval from their parents or guardians.

An abortion can be performed, however, only if one or more specific circumstances apply. These include the death or permanent diability of the husband during his wife’s pregnancy, imprisonment of either spouse, termination of parental rights, pregnancy resulting from rape, having multiple children without a husband, or if the family already has a disabled child and is poor.

Human rights organisations object to the restrictions claiming they violate a woman’s right to an abortion. “They won’t achieve anything with this resolution. It will only increase the number of illegal abortions. If a woman has decided to get an abortion, she will do so in one way or another, regardless of whether the reason is on the government’s list,” Director of Business and Entrepreneurial Women Avazkan Ormonova said.

According to unofficial figures, an abortion at a state clinic costs between US$10 and $15. Private clinics charge more, between $20 and $25. Specialists believe that the new resolution will probably trigger an increase in the cost of abortions.

“In 2010, 15 years will have passed since the government signed the Beijing resolution on women’s rights stating that sexual rights assume complete respect for the physical inviolability of the human body, mutual consent and the willingness to bear responsibility for the consequences of sexual behavior,” said Ormonova, citing areas in which the new government resolution deviates from the Beijing agreement.