Although abortion is legal in Turkey up to the tenth week of pregnancy, women are finding it increasingly difficult to access the service. The lack of provision in public hospitals and recent inspections of medical practices have once again highlighted the gap between legal rights and everyday reality.
It was recently announced that the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Health had inspected independent practices of approximately 20 obstetricians and gynaecologists. According to the Turkish Medical Association, official reports were drawn up against the doctors during the inspections on the grounds that abortions could not be performed in independent practices. The doctors were also reportedly informed that they could face penalties.
Abortion, however, is not illegal in Turkey. The possibility that doctors could be punished for providing a lawful healthcare service directly affects how and where women are able to obtain it.
The Gap Between Legal Rights and Reality
In Turkey, abortion on request is legal until the tenth week of pregnancy under Law No. 2827 on Population Planning. Unmarried women aged 18 or over can obtain an abortion on the basis of their own consent. Married women, however, are still required to obtain their husband’s consent, making a woman’s decision about her own body dependent on another person’s approval.
There is a serious gap between this legal right and its implementation. According to a 2024 study that collected data from 779 hospitals, only 29.3 per cent reported providing abortion services. Among public hospitals, just 6.2 per cent offered abortion on request. Moreover, in 65 provinces, not a single public hospital reported providing the service. The research, cited by DW, demonstrates that although abortion remains legal, it is inaccessible to many women in practice.
Unavailable in Public Hospitals, Prohibited in Private Practices
With access to abortion so restricted in public hospitals, women are often left with private hospitals and doctors’ practices as their only alternatives. The recent inspections in Istanbul risk narrowing these options even further.
The Turkish Medical Association argues that the Provincial Directorate of Health’s interpretation that abortions cannot be performed in independent practices is contrary to the law. A penalty previously imposed on a doctor on similar grounds was also found unlawful by a court. Doctors cannot be investigated or punished merely for performing abortions.
Preventing the provision of a service in independent practices when it is already largely unavailable in public hospitals further restricts the routes through which women can exercise their legal right to abortion.
Barriers to Access Do Not Affect All Women Equally
Pushing abortion provision into the private healthcare sector turns a legal right into a service available primarily to those who can afford it. A woman living in a major city who can pay for private healthcare does not face the same circumstances as a woman in a smaller town who cannot afford to travel or pay private hospital fees.
The legal ten-week limit also makes every delay more consequential. Searching for a hospital, struggling to secure an appointment, travelling to another city and trying to raise the necessary money all consume the limited time available. In this way, abortion can be made inaccessible in practice without being formally prohibited.
This situation deepens class-based and regional inequalities. Women who cannot exercise their legal rights may be forced either to continue an unwanted pregnancy or to resort to unsafe methods. The inability to access safe, timely, affordable and non-discriminatory abortion care is both a public-health issue and a human-rights concern. Restricting access does not eliminate abortions; it merely determines whether they are performed safely.
The Issue Is Women’s Right to Decide About Their Own Bodies
The abortion debate is not simply about where a particular medical procedure may be performed. At its heart is the question of whether women can make decisions about their own bodies, lives and futures.
The state’s responsibility does not end with recognising a right in law. It must also ensure that the right can be exercised safely, free of charge and without delay throughout the country. Genuine access cannot be said to exist in a system where public hospitals do not provide the service, private healthcare is unaffordable for many, and doctors who offer abortion care face the threat of sanctions.
Abortion remains legal. But if women cannot obtain the service, doctors are threatened with punishment for providing it and those without sufficient financial means are left with no options, then we must acknowledge that this right exists only on paper.
Because a right that cannot be exercised is not a genuine right.