According to the State Statistics Committee, 73,816 abortions were registered in our country last year. Most abortionists are young. Thus, in 2023, more than 50 percent of the women who will have abortions, that is, 37 thousand people, will be between 15 and 29 years old. According to statistics, last year 68 women between 15 and 17 years old and 2,528 women between 18 and 19 years old had abortions. In 2021, the number of abortions was 46,877 and in 2022, 57,999. The number of abortions per 1,000 women between 15 and 49 years old was 27.9. Statistics show that the number is growing very rapidly. Propaganda also has no effect.
But is there any solution to the problem? Maybe it’s time to take some administrative measures?
“Caspian” The newspaper published an article on the subject.
Abortion should be resorted to when there is no other option
Rafig Mahmudov, senior adviser to the State Committee for Family, Women and Children’s Problems, confirmed that the number of abortions in the country is increasing.
According to him, the increase in abortions in the last 10 years is due to several reasons:
“If we pay attention to the distribution by age categories, we can see that abortions are performed more among people between 25 and 34 years old. This is the age period for marriage. The existence of these cases shows that young people today They have little knowledge about reproductive health and family planning. It is necessary to work on these issues more strongly, so that families resort to abortion only when there is no alternative. Other reasons that create abortions are the stereotypes that still exist in the family.
If the determination of the sex of the fetus is prohibited…
R. Mahmudov emphasized that in order to prevent such situations in international practice, the normative legal framework prohibits determining the sex of the fetus in the mother’s womb:
“Research carried out to study the experience of other countries showed that an increase in the number of selective abortions was observed after the introduction of USM in healthcare. In recent years, the same trend can be observed in our country. The The result of this is that today in Azerbaijan between 114 and 116 boys are born per 100 girls. This indicator is 104 to 105 boys per 100. The main goal of USM is to protect, control and monitor the health of the child in the womb, which can help both to spread and prevent selective abortions, and at the same time to stabilize the sex ratio.”
No responsibility
Lawyer Ruslan Valiyev believes that the time for administrative intervention to prevent abortions is long overdue.
In their opinion, it is necessary to make appropriate additions to the Code of Administrative Offenses in this regard:
“The increase in the number of abortions in Azerbaijan is unequivocally due to selective abortions. In the legislation there is no responsibility for selective abortion. It is true that there is a law “On the protection of the health of the population.” “In the “The law mentions in what cases and for what reasons abortion is allowed, but it would be good if the issue of abortion was at least included in the Code of Administrative Offenses and created responsibility for both parties.”
“The amount of sanctions should be around 20,000-30,000 manats”
R. Valiyev stated that the current problem requires a complex approach:
“We cannot say with certainty that the situation will change positively after the emergence of administrative responsibility. We need a comprehensive approach to the existing problem. Initially, it is enough to add appropriate sanctions to the Code of Administrative Offenses and apply those sanctions in practice. These fines intended to medical institutions should be around 20,000-30,000 manats. If the situation does not change, the corresponding articles can be added to the Penal Code.
Saying “it’s a sin” doesn’t solve the problem.
Sociologist Ahmet Qashamoglu does not consider the propaganda and educational work carried out in this regard satisfactory.
According to him, the measures taken to prevent abortions are spontaneous:
“It is necessary to change social policy in this sense in the country and prepare a general action plan. Otherwise, this problem will not be solved by telling people: “It is a shame, a sin, do not abort.” “We must create a certain legal pressure on the ground and we have to try to make the people themselves understand it.
The doctors don’t see any other way out either.
Obstetrician-gynecologist surgeon Laman Aliyeva also supports the creation of mechanisms of influence on the administrative order:
“We see that it is not possible to eliminate the problem through awareness and propaganda. For example, if I reject a patient who comes to me for an abortion, she will go to another doctor. But if there are mechanisms of influence in the administrative order on abortions, The situation may change to some extent.”
