How other Catholic countries in Europe deal with abortion

By Graham Clifford
Irish Independent
Saturday November 24 2012

No other subject provokes such intense debate in Ireland as abortion, as we have witnessed in recent days following the Savita Halappanavar tragedy. But how do other predominately Catholic countries in Europe deal with this divisive issue?

In Poland, where 87pc of the population classify themselves as Catholics, it's legal to have an abortion when the woman's life or health is endangered by the pregnancy, when the pregnancy is a result of a criminal act such as rape or when the foetus is seriously malformed.

Indeed, despite its Catholic stance, in 1932 Poland became the first country in Europe to allow terminations when the pregnancy resulted from a criminal act.

.........

In Italy, where 87.8pc of the population say they are Catholics, the law is completely at odds with the church itself.

Since 1978 women are allowed terminate a pregnancy on demand during the first 90 days.

Abortions are legal if they are carried out for health, economic or social reasons, including the circumstances under which conception occurred.

The procedure can be carried out free-of-charge in public hospitals and termination in the second trimester is permitted if the mother's life or health is at risk.

.........

Spain too, with its 94pc Catholic population, has liberal laws on abortion. In 2006 the country's then-socialist government changed the law, allowing any woman to get an abortion up until 14 weeks.

The Socialist prime minister at the time, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, also legalised gay marriage and let same-sex couples adopt children. Now ruling conservatives want to restrict the right to terminations, though the electorate appears to be split on the issue.

.....

Malta is the most similar country to Ireland in Europe in terms of its lack of clarity on the abortion issue. It too is a hub of Catholicism with 98pc of the island's people considering themselves as such.

And, like Ireland, it traditionally has shied away from giving clear legal direction on when terminations can and can't be allowed.

While the law states abortion is illegal under any and all circumstances, they have been carried out when the life of the mother has been threatened without any charge being brought by the police.

In Savita Halappanavar's home country of India over 2.5 million abortions have been reported so far this year though the number of 'unreported' abortions is expected to bring the total for 2012 to 11 million.

Under law enacted in 1971, abortions can be granted if there is a danger to the woman's physical or mental health, if the baby will be handicapped or malformed or if the conception occurred as a result of rape.

............

A study in the British medical journal The Lancet estimated that four to 12 million selective abortions of girls have occurred in India in the past three decades.

Full article at the Irish Independent News