TO LIVE OR NOT TO LIVE!

It is possible that the autumn session of the Milli Maclis will consider a ban on abortions in Azerbaijan, the chairman of the Social Policy Committee of the Parliament, Hadi Racabli, told reporters in late June. The MP said that the ban on abortions may be adopted as part of amendments to the Family Code and the law "On protection of health". Racabli noted that such a ban exists in many countries around the world. In his view, an abortion is murder and barbarism. In addition, Hadi Racabli drew special attention to the problem of abortions based on the sex of the child, which also leads to a deterioration of the demographic situation. Hadi Racabli said that if such a law is adopted, permission for an abortion may be granted only in connection with certain diseases. However, the MP did not specify the date for discussions on this issue, but "given the seriousness of this aspect", it should be put to public debate, Racabli added.

Interestingly, the Azerbaijani deputy's statement curiously coincided with the recommendation given by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at an international conference devoted to problems of demographic development in early June. In his speech, he compared an abortion to murder. Erdogan himself is a father of four. In this speech, the prime minister instructed the minister of health to prepare a bill to limit abortions in Turkey. "We are preparing legislation to ban abortions and we will adopt it," Erdogan said. At the same time, the Turkish prime minister referred to the experience of Western countries that have laws restricting abortions and conduct a campaign against abortions.

It is not clear yet what the Turkish law will be. Currently, according to the 1983 law, abortions in Turkey can be done before the tenth week of pregnancy, and if there are medical contraindications, they can be done later. Information has been leaked to the press that under the new law, pregnancy can be terminated no later than the fourth to sixth week, while Erdogan strongly hinted that he is against abortions in general. Turkish Health Minister Recep Akdag said that the bill is already being drawn up and will be published next month.

Meanwhile, Turkish activists from various human rights organizations decided not to wait and expressed their opinion on the matter. They took to the streets with the slogan: "Keep your hands off my body", "My body, my decision", "Abortion is our right". According to the Turkish media, music was played during the demonstration, and the women sang a popular Turkish song "I was born free, I will live free, and who are you?"

According to the opponents of the law, it will not yield a real result. After its adoption, the number of illegal abortions may increase, which, in turn, will lead to an increase in female mortality. Moreover, the law will infringe on their rights, they argue. By the way, men were also seen among the protesters.

Aspects of the abortion

As for Azerbaijan, our society has also voiced similar opinions. Indeed, this question is too serious in order to suddenly make a decision on it. The attitude to abortions has always been ambiguous in any society. But before you voice your "for" or "against", we will provide some information to ponder.

Currently, abortions are permitted in exceptional cases in Northern Ireland and Malta. Strict laws on abortions are in place in Spain, Portugal, Poland and Switzerland. In Japan, the sale of birth control pills is not allowed. In the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Angola, Egypt, Papua New Guinea, abortions are prohibited altogether. In Nepal, women who have illegal abortions go on trial for murder and are sent to prison.

Abortions were practiced in ancient times as well. The attitude of society and the state to abortions depended on a particular social and political system, economic and social conditions, the population and its density, and the development of religious beliefs in society ... There is no unity on this issue in society in our days. The laws of ancient Greece and Rome did not protect the life of the fetus. Abortions were not persecuted and were even justified. According to the beliefs that existed at the time, the fetus in the womb was not considered a person. Aristotle said: "If children are born in a marriage contrary to expectations, the fetus may be expelled before it starts to feel and live." The only ancient culture, where abortions were absolutely condemned and entailed the death penalty, is the culture of ancient Peru. The early Christian Church condemned abortions or infanticide. The penalty for an abortion was penance for up to 10 years and over, and excommunication. An abortion made after the child started to move entailed more severe penalties.

In Muslim countries, official institutions existed in the 19th century, where women had abortions. In 1875, the mother of Sultan Abdul-Gazis even issued an order that any female resident of the palace should have an abortion if she becomes pregnant. In the sultan's harem, there was a special person for this purpose - "a bloody midwife". In general, abortions became widespread in the 19th century.

In the 20th century, abortions became quite commonplace in big cities, and no court punishment scared women. However, it should be noted that in most cases, the threat of the law remained on paper. The wave of abortions grew irresistibly, and in all countries and in every large city, a great number of doctors and midwives had extensive experience of this kind. The development of abortive technology contributed to the increase in the number of abortions. In Paris, not only were there a lot of special institutions for abortions, there was even a special discount for regular "clients" in the early 20th century. Two years before the First World War, the Paris parliamentary circles seriously discussed a draft law on the introduction of state insurance against having children. This is evidence of the decline in the vitality of the nation and a real threat of extinction. It is highly significant that the question was so tragic precisely in France, a country which is rich and infected with a spirit of freedom on the one hand, and strictly persecutes abortions and enforces severe penalties for this operation on the other. The futility of the judicial system to combat abortions is clearly seen here.

What can the ban cause?

In this connection, experts often refer to Poland, where anti-abortion legislation has been in place for more than 19 years. The annual reported number of abortions is only about two hundred per 9-10 million women of reproductive age here. At the same time, the birth rate in the country is one of the lowest. According to experts, the Polish example shows that the legal prohibition of abortions did not solve the problem, but only drove it underground. At the same time, internationally accepted norms and human rights are grossly violated. Nor did it affect the demographic situation. Not only did the birth rate fail to grow after 1993, on the contrary, it continued to decline rapidly. In ten years - from 1993 to 2003 - the annual number of births in Poland decreased by 143,000, or 29 per cent.

At the same time, according to the WHO, roughly about 46 million abortions are reported in the world annually, which is 22 per cent of the observed number of pregnancies. Currently, the following circumstances are the reasons for abortions in the world: 40 per cent - women's desire, 25 per cent - living conditions, 23 per cent - social conditions, and 12 per cent - medical reasons.

It should be noted that attempts to ban abortions have been made in many countries, but they are not always useful. Experts note that the introduction of such a prohibition leads to a significant increase in the number of illegal abortions and self-abortions. Mortality from abortions and its consequences increases. The effects of the ban on abortions may also include the increasing number of infanticides and the increasing number of children abandoned by their parents.

Now onto the question of anti-legislation in Azerbaijan - is it worth it? And would it not be better to raise awareness of sex life and effective methods of contraception in society, particularly among young people?