Abortion in Europe: are the laws and practices patient centred?

C Fiala

Gynmed Clinic, Vienna, Austria

For most women the diagnosis of an unwanted pregnancy is unexpected. The women are therefore unprepared, be it for carrying the pregnancy to term or having an abortion. They need a great deal of information within a very short space of time. In case they have taken the decision to terminate the pregnancy, it is crucial for them to get fast access to medical facilities. It is interesting to analyse legal requirements and regulations in European countries, as to how far they support the women in this crisis situation in finding a solution.Societies react differently to the needs of the women, although the past was dominated by a rigid paternalism, coupled with beliefs that pregnant women could not responsibly make decisions regarding their own pregnancy. Society therefore "had" to intervene in order to ensure that the "right" decision was taken. A huge progress has been made over the last decades to overcome this approach and the legalisation of abortion has been a corner stone. However there are still many remnants of the old thinking like obligatory waiting ("cool off") periods of an arbitrary number of days or an obligatory counselling. So far there is no evidence that these restrictions are of any benefit. They do, however, lead to a delay in the provision of the treatment and have negative effects on the physical and psychological experience of those affected. Examples and comparisons of European countries are given in the presentation.