Medical sources in Turkmenistan say officials continue to limit women’s access to abortion, threatening doctors who provide abortion care and denying women a consultation to discuss their options for unwanted pregnancies.
Several health-care workers in Turkmenistan said on condition of anonymity that doctors were warned that performing an abortion would cost them their license, even if the procedure was carried out within the limits specified by law.
“After getting warnings from the Health Ministry and law enforcement agencies, doctors are now turning away women who come to inquire about an abortion. They are not even being given doctor’s appointments,” an Ashgabat physician said on August 20.
Health-care workers said doctors are only allowed to terminate a pregnancy when the fetus shows no signs of life inside the womb. Authorities also strictly control how doctors prescribe abortion pills to patients. The medics said the clampdown on abortion is forcing women to resort to unsafe options, putting their lives at risk. It has also paved the way for large payments by women with the money to medics who carry out abortions secretly. In the first two months, the price is equivalent to US$1,430, beyond two months this can rise to the equivalent of $14,300. As always, the poorest women suffer most and often turn to dangerous methods.
Only 47% of women of reproductive age use modern contraception, according to a US-based NGO who support greater access to family planning. The law on Protection of Public Health allows abortions only in state medical facilities, but according to official 2022 statistics, there were only 95 reproductive health offices and 76 licensed gynaecologists to provide abortions in the country, where the number of women of reproductive age is estimated to be about 1.6 million.
According to the Criminal Code, doctors who carry out abortions outside state hospitals or without a legal ground to do so face up to two years of correctional labour. The law also provides for up to two years in prison if the person performing an abortion does not have a licence.
SOURCE: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, by RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service and Farangis Najibullah, 27 August 2024 ; PHOTO: azathabar.com (RFE/RL)