53 of 81 Provinces Don’t Provide Abortion On Demand Service

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Kadir Has University Social Gender and Women Researches Center has conducted a research about abortion services at Turkey’s state hospitals.

The research called “Legal but not Accessible: Abortion Services at Turkey’s State Hospitals” exhibited that 11.8% of the state hospitals don’t provide abortion service.

431 hospitals were asked of their abortion service

The study in which Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mary Lou O’Neil, Bahar Aldanmaz, Rosa Maria Quirant Quilles and Fatih Resul Kılınç worked as researchers was conducted by mystery customer phone call survey method from April-October 2015.

“Medical necessity” condition at 78% of the hospitals

Result of the study suggested that 7.8% of the 431 hospitals, which have gynecology department, provide abortion on demand service.

78% provide the service on "medical necessities"

* 11.8% don’t provide abortion service despite having gynecology departments

* 1.4% didn’t provide any information

* 11.4% of training and research hospitals don’t have abortion service

No abortion service at 11.4% of training and research hospitals

Of the 58 training and research hospitals that have gynecology departments, 17.3% provide abortion service; 71.1% provide the service only on medical necessities, 11.4% don’t provide abortion service despite having gynecology departments.

No abortion on demand service is provided in two regions

There is no state hospital providing abortion on demand service in the Western Marmara and eastern Black Sea, according to the study.

There are 1.5 million women in reproductive age group in the Western Marmara and eastern Black Sea. But yet, no abortion on demand service is provided at the state hospitals in these regions.

The cities in which abortion on demand services is not provided are Adıyaman, Afyon, Ağrı, Amasya, Artvin, Balıkesir, Bilecik, Bingöl, Bolu, Burdur, Bursa, Çanakkale, Çankırı, Edirne, Elazığ, Erzincan, Eskişehir, Antep, Giresun, Gümüşhane, Hatay, Isparta, İçel (Mersin), Kars, Kastamonu, Kırklareli, Kırşehir, Kocaeli, Kütahya, Malatya, Maraş, Mardin, Nevşehir, Ordu, Rize, Sakarya, Siirt, Sinop, Sivas, Tekirdağ, Tokat, Trabzon, Uşak, Van, Yozgat, Zonguldak, Aksaray, Bayburt, Kırıkkale, Batman, Yalova, Kilis and Osmaniye.

In response to Mor Çatı Women Shelter Foundation’s statement that only three state hospitals provide abortion on demand service, the Ministry of Health had in its written statement said that there is no restriction for abortion services at the hospitals running under the Ministry. (BK/TK)