15,000 abortions performed in Moldova during a year

15,000 babies are deprived of the right to life before they are born as 15,000 abortions are performed in Moldova over a year. Even if the number of abortions decreases, it continues to be dangerously high, say opponents of abortion. Other people say it is the right of the woman to decide whether to give birth or not and the human rights are more important than statistics, Info-Prim Neo reports. Jurist Ludmila Shargov said the legislation of Moldova is rather controversial. The right to life is the first right guaranteed by the Constitution. In Moldova, the right to life starts when the child takes the first breath. An unborn child is not regarded as a person and does not have the right to life. Thus, the woman can choose between having an abortion or not. According to the jurist, the paradox is that the law requires that the pregnant women who work in hazardous conditions should change their job. “The law does not allow them to take drugs or drink alcohol while pregnant so that they do not harm the child and demands that they unconditionally follow the doctor’s advice so as to ensure the normal development of the fetus. The law thus obliges the women not to cause damage to the child. On the other hand, it allows the women not to give birth,” said Ludmila Shargov. The women in Moldova can ask for a termination at up to 12 weeks of pregnancy by writing only an application. The father’s consent is not required. After 12 weeks, up to 22 weeks, the abortion is allowed only if a medical commission gives its consent. The husband’s death and the divorce are among the reasons for which a woman can ask for an abortion at a late stage. “I don’t think the woman should need the man’s consent to have an abortion,” executive director of the Moldova Institute for Human Rights (IDOM) Vanu Jereghi has told Info-Prim Neo. “There is no case when the man needs the woman’s permission to have an operation or certain changes to his body. Thus, the woman should also be able to decide by herself whether to give birth or not,” said the IDOM director. According to Vanu Jereghi, it is right for a woman to have an abortion when she cannot raise the child for different reasons. Galina Leshko, gynecologist of the Youth-Friendly Health Center “Neovita”, said the women should not have illusions – the fetus is not killed before abortion; it is alive when it is extracted from the mother’s body, regardless of the abortion procedure chosen – vacuum absorption or curettage. Specialists of the National Reproductive Health and Medical Genetics Center of Moldova say some of the information about the effects and risks of abortion are exaggerated, but admits that complications can appear after abortion, including infection and bleeding. In 2010, a woman died as a result of abortion. The Ministry of Health warns that the number of teenage girls who have abortions is on the rise. Eleven girls under 15 had abortions in 2010. In almost 1,500 cases of abortions, the girls were aged between 15 and 19. The ending of the pregnancy, especially in adolescence, increases the risk of being sterile in the future.