{{Short description|Comparative overview of abortion law and practice}}
'''Abortion in Europe''' varies considerably between countries and territories due to differing national laws and policies on its legality, availability of the procedure, and alternative forms of support for pregnant women and their families.
In most European countries, [[abortion]] is generally permitted within a term limit below [[fetal viability]] (e.g. 12 weeks in [[Abortion in Germany|Germany]] and 12 weeks and 6 days in [[Abortion in Italy|Italy]], or 14 weeks in [[Abortion in France|France]] and [[Abortion in Spain|Spain]]), although a wide range of exceptions permit abortion later in the pregnancy.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Kessler |first=Glenn |date=2023-01-20 |title=Analysis {{!}} The GOP claim that Democrats support abortion 'up to moment of birth' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/22/gop-claim-that-democrats-support-abortion-up-moment-birth/ |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Greenberg |first=Jon |title=PolitiFact - Fact-check: How Mississippi's abortion law compares with laws in Europe |url=https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/dec/01/tate-reeves/fact-check-how-mississippis-abortion-law-compares-/ |website=@politifact |language=en-US}}</ref> The longest term limits – in terms of gestation – are in the [[Abortion in the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]] and in the [[Abortion in the Netherlands|Netherlands]], both at 24 weeks of gestation.
Abortion is subsidized or fully funded in many European countries.<ref name=":2" /> Grounds for abortion are highly restricted in [[Abortion in Poland|Poland]] and in the smaller jurisdictions of [[Abortion in Monaco|Monaco]], [[Abortion in Liechtenstein|Liechtenstein]], [[Abortion in Malta|Malta]] and the [[Abortion in Denmark|Faroe Islands]], and abortion is prohibited in [[Abortion in Andorra|Andorra]].<ref>See table below for a full outline of [[#Abortion laws by jurisdiction|abortion laws by jurisdiction]] in Europe.</ref> In France and [[Abortion in Luxembourg|Luxembourg]], abortion is enshrined as a constitutional right.
The [[European Court of Human Rights]], summarising its abortion-related case law, in the ''[[Vo v France]]'' ruling in 2004, noted the "diversity of views on the point at which life begins, of legal cultures and of national standards of protection" and therefore, in a European context, the nation-state "has been left with considerable discretion in the matter."<ref>{{cite web |title=Case of Vo. v France (Application no. 53924/00) |url=https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/fre#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-61887%22]} |publisher=European Court of Human Rights |access-date=29 February 2024 |location=Strasbourg |date=8 July 2004}}</ref>
==History== Abortions have taken place either within or outside the law throughout European history, alongside initiatives by opponents of abortion to provide alternatives where a pregnancy is difficult or unwanted. These have included [[kinship care]] by families and friendship circles in every culture, the adoption and fostering of ''[[alumni]]'' children in Roman society, and the ''[[oblation]]'' of children who were given into the care of monastic institutions if a family was unable to provide adequate care.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lester |first=Anne E. |date=2007 |title=Lost but not yet Found: Medieval Foundlings and their Care in Northern France, 1200–1500 |url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/w/wsfh/0642292.0035.001/--lost-but-not-yet-found-medieval-foundlings-and-their-care?rgn=main;view=fulltext |journal=Proceedings of the Western Society for French History |language=en |volume=35 |issn=2573-5012}}</ref> In the modern era, formal support services have included [[adoption]], [[fostering]] and [[foundling hospitals]].
===Ancient Greece and Rome=== Debates around abortion, pregnancy and the beginning of life were common in [[History of abortion#Greco-Roman world|Greek and Roman philosophy and medicine]], and would have also been known in cultures which have not left a written record. The medical writer [[Soranus of Ephesus]] wrote in the early 2nd century AD:<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dunn |first1=Peter M. |title=Soranus of Ephesus (circa AD 98-138) and perinatal care in Roman times |journal=Archives of Disease in Childhood: Fetal and Neonatal Edition |date=July 1995 |volume=73 |issue=1 |pages=51–52 |publisher=BMJ Publishing Group|doi=10.1136/fn.73.1.f51 |pmid=7552600 |pmc=2528358 }}</ref>
{{blockquote|A contraceptive differs from an abortive, for the first does not let conception take place, while the latter destroys what has been conceived ... But a controversy has arisen. For one party banishes abortives ... because it is the specific task of medicine to guard and preserve what has been engendered by nature. The other party prescribes abortives, but with discrimination ...}}
Much of what is known about the [[Surgery in Ancient Rome|methods and practice]] of abortion in [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] and [[Roman Empire|Roman]] history comes from early classical texts. Abortion, as a gynecological procedure, was primarily the province of women who were either midwives or well-informed laypeople. In his ''Theaetetus'', [[Plato]] mentions a midwife's ability to induce abortion in the early stages of pregnancy.<ref name=past>{{Cite journal|last=Depierri |first=Kate P. |date=March 1968 |title=One Way of Unearthing the Past |journal=The American Journal of Nursing |volume=68 |issue=3 |pages=521–524 |doi=10.2307/3453443 |pmid=4865614 |publisher=Lippincott Williams &|jstor=3453443 }}</ref><ref>[[Plato]] (1921) [{{circa|369 BC}}]. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plat.+Theaet.+149d "149d"]. ''[[Theaetetus (dialogue)|Theaetetus]]''. in Harold North Fowler. ''Plato in Twelve Volumes''. '''12'''. [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]]: [[Harvard University Press]].</ref><ref name="christianperspectives">[https://books.google.com/books?id=fVZXBeNCffwC Johannes M. Röskamp, ''Christian Perspectives On Abortion-Legislation In Past And Present'' (GRIN Verlag 2005] {{ISBN|978-3-640-56931-1}}</ref> A fragment attributed to the poet Lysias "suggests that abortion was a crime in Athens against the husband, if his wife was pregnant when he died, since his unborn child could have claimed the estate."<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | last = Long | first = George | author-link = George Long (scholar) | title = Abortio | editor = William Smith | editor-link = William Smith (lexicographer) | encyclopedia = [[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities]] | volume = 1 | page = 2 | publisher = [[Little, Brown and Company]] | location = Boston | year = 1870 | url = http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-dgra/0009.html | url-status = usurped | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100213213407/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-dgra/0009.html | archive-date = 2010-02-13 }}</ref>
[[Tertullian]], a 2nd- and 3rd-century [[Christianity|Christian]] [[theology|theologian]], described surgical implements which were used in a procedure similar to modern [[dilation and evacuation]].<ref name=tertullian>[[Tertullian]] (1885) [{{circa|lk=no|203}}]. [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf03.iv.xi.xxv.html "Tertullian Refutes, Physiologically, the Notion that the Soul is Introduced After Birth"]. ''A Treatise on the Soul''. in [[Philip Schaff]]. ''[[Ante-Nicene Fathers (book)|Ante-Nicene Fathers]]''. '''3'''. [[Edinburgh]]: [[T&T Clark]].</ref>
===Development of Christian perspectives=== An early Christian understanding of preventing abortion and infanticide was outlined in the 1st century ''[[Didache]]'', which was published in [[Syria]] or [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] and became widely available in Europe with the growth of the early Church.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lake |first1=Kirsopp |title=Didache, or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, Chapter 2, verse 2 |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Didache_(Lake_translation)#Chapter_II |website=www.wikisource.org |publisher=Unknown |access-date=11 August 2022 |date=1912}}</ref>
Restrictions on abortion have generally{{what|reason=When? Since ancient times?|date=October 2025}} corresponded with laws and societies influenced by Christianity or where a substantial number of health professionals refuse to perform abortion due to a personal [[conscientious objection to abortion|conscientious objection]] which is often, but not always, related to religious faith.{{what|reason=The citation is inadequate for the claim - it is only one case. In addition, it is 404.|date=October 2025}}<ref>{{cite podcast |url=https://euscream.com/biancas-story-revisimted/ |title=Bianca's Story Revisited |website= EU Scream|publisher= |host= James Kanter |date= 31 July 2022|time= |access-date=7 August 2022}}</ref>
[[Pope John Paul II]] outlined Catholic teaching on abortion and support for a definition of life beginning at conception in his 1995 encyclical ''[[Evangelium vitae]]''<ref>{{cite book |title=Evangelium Vitae |date=1995 |publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana |location=Vatican City State |isbn=978-0-85183-951-6 |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae.html |access-date=11 March 2023}}</ref> and through the 1992 ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]'':<ref name=CCC>{{cite book |title=Catechism of the Catholic Church - IntraText |date=1994 |publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana |location=Vatican City State |isbn=978-0-225-66691-5 |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7Z.HTM |access-date=11 March 2023 |quote=Paragraphs 2270 and 2271 in 'Respect for Human Life' section.}}</ref>
{{blockquote|Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person – among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.}}
[[Eastern Orthodox Christianity]] has similarly strongly condemned abortion. The Russian Orthodox Church's ''Social Concept'' states:<ref>{{cite web |title=Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church, Problems of bioethics |url=https://russianorthodoxchurch.ca/en/social-concepts-index/problems-of-bioethics |website=www.russianorthodoxchurch.ca |date=28 June 2014 |publisher=Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church, Canada. |access-date=7 April 2023}}</ref>
{{blockquote|Since the ancient time the Church has viewed deliberate abortion as a grave sin. The canons equate abortion with murder. This assessment is based on the conviction that the conception of a human being is a gift of God.}}
Following the Reformation, [[Protestants]] also affirmed life before birth and opposed abortion, although individual Protestant churches have adopted differing positions on the grounds on which abortion should or should not be permitted. [[John Calvin]], for example, wrote:<ref>{{cite web |last1=Roach |first1=David |title=Reformers' pro-life views recounted |url=https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/reformers-pro-life-views-recounted/ |website=Baptist Press |publisher=Southern Baptist Convention |access-date=11 March 2023 |date=1 February 2017}}</ref>
{{blockquote|The fetus, though enclosed in the womb of its mother, is already a human being, and it is almost a monstrous crime to rob it of the life which it has not yet begun to enjoy.}}
The bishops of the [[Anglican Communion]] expressed opposition to abortion at the 1930 Lambeth Conference.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Lambeth Conference: Resolutions Archive from 1930 |url=https://www.anglicancommunion.org/media/127734/1930.pdf |publisher=Anglican Consultative Council |access-date=19 August 2023 |date= 2005}}</ref> The 1958 Lambeth Conference's ''Family in Contemporary Society'' report affirmed the following position on abortion<ref>{{cite book |title=The Lambeth Conference 1958: Resolutions and Reports |date=1958 |publisher=SPCK and Seabury Press}}</ref> and was commended by the 1968 Conference:<ref>{{cite web |title=Lambeth Conference Resolution 22, Responsible Parenthood |url=https://www.anglicancommunion.org/media/127743/1968.pdf |publisher=Anglican Consultative Council |access-date=19 August 2023 |page=10 |date=2005}}</ref>
{{blockquote|In the strongest terms Christians reject the practice of induced abortion or infanticide, which involves the killing of a life already conceived (as well as a violation of the personality of the mother), save at the dictate of strict and undeniable medical necessity ... the sacredness of life is, in Christian eyes, an absolute which should not be violated.}}
===Development of other faith and secular perspectives=== [[Islam and abortion|Islamic]] and [[Judaism and abortion|Jewish]] perspectives on abortion differ according to the scholarship followed. All Islamic schools of thought agree that abortion is recommended when the mother's life is in danger as the mother's life is paramount. The author of ''[[Sahih al-Bukhari]]'' (''Book of Hadith'') writes that the unborn child is believed to become a living [[soul]] after 120 days of gestation.<ref>"''(The matter of the Creation of) a human being is put together in the womb of the mother in 40 days(some say 120), and then he becomes a clot of thick blood for a similar period, and then a piece of flesh for a similar period. Then Allah sends an angel who is ordered to write four things...then the soul is breathed into him''"<br/>{{Hadith-usc|bukhari|usc=yes|4|54|430}}</ref>
Abortion has been questioned from a secular perspective, drawing on modern understandings of science and human rights,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Karpenko |first1=Georgii |title=Debunking the Pro-abortion Narrative from a Secular Perspective |url=https://www.hungarianconservative.com/articles/opinion/pro_abortion_narrative_unscientific_logical_fallacy_debunking/ |publisher=Hungarian Conservative |access-date=25 December 2023 |location=Budapest |date=16 August 2023}}</ref> although the potential to legalise and increase the availability of abortion was supported by [[Abortion under communism|secular and libertarian feminists and socialists]] from the mid-19th century onwards. The 1871 [[Paris Commune]], for example, declared:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://psolufmg.blogspot.com/p/ha-140-anos-comuna-de-paris.html|title=Núcleo Psol UFMG: Decretos da Comuna de Paris de 1871|website=Psolufmg.blogspot.com|access-date=24 August 2018}}</ref>
{{blockquote|The submission of the children and the mother to the authority of the father, who prepares the submission of each one to the authority of the chief, is pronounced dead. The couple consents freely to seek common pleasure. The Commune proclaims freedom of birth: the right to sexual information from childhood, the right to abortion, the right to contraception. As the products cease to be the property of their parents. They live together in their home and run their own lives.}}
===Eastern Europe=== [[File:RussianAbortionPoster.jpg|thumb|Soviet poster, from 1925, warning against abortions induced without medical care.]]
The [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]] was the first country in Europe to [[Abortion in Russia#1920-1936|legalise abortion in 1920]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Avdeev |first1=Alexandre |last2=Blum |first2=Alain |last3=Troitskaya |first3=Irina |date=1995 |title=The History of Abortion Statistics in Russia and the USSR from 1900 to 1991 |journal=Population: An English Selection |volume=7 |pages=39–66 |jstor=2949057 |issn=1169-1018}}</ref> and was followed by other [[Soviet Union]] republics. However, between 1936 and 1955, abortion in the Soviet Union was highly restricted due to medical concerns and its impact on population growth.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |author=Stites, Richard |title=The women's liberation movement in Russia: feminism, nihilism, and bolshevism, 1860-1930 |date=1991 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=0-691-10058-6 |oclc=1061494860}}</ref>
Under [[Nazi eugenics|eugenics laws in Nazi Germany]], abortion was severely punished for women considered to be [[Aryan race#Nazism|Aryan]] (racially superior). However, abortion was permitted on wider and more explicit grounds if the unborn child was believed to be deformed or disabled or if a termination otherwise was deemed desirable on [[eugenic]] or racial grounds, including [[forced abortion]] on Polish and Jewish women.<ref name="Ferree">{{Cite book |first=Myra Marx |last=Ferree |author-link=Myra Marx Ferree |title=Shaping abortion discourse: democracy and the public sphere in Germany and the United States |year=2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-79384-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SRn9qynS20kC&pg=PA27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Reforming Sex: The German Movement for Birth Control and Abortion Reform, 1920–1950 |year=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |first=Atina |last=Grossmann |isbn=978-0-19-536351-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tex-BuFgji0C&pg=PA152}}</ref>
Abortion law became more liberalised in Eastern Europe in the 1950s after the installation of communist regimes across the [[Eastern Bloc]]. The reintroduction of abortion in Soviet law in 1955<ref>{{cite wikisource |title=Указ Президиума ВС СССР от 23.11.1955 об отмене запрещения абортов |trans-title=Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Council of 11.23.1955 on the abolition of the prohibition of abortion |plaintitle= |wslink=Указ Президиума ВС СССР от 23.11.1955 об отмене запрещения абортов |volume= |date=23 November 1955 |publisher= |location= |language=Russian |wslanguage=ru |noicon=yes}}</ref> was accompanied by similar changes in:
* [[Abortion in Hungary|Hungary]] – 1953<ref>[https://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/abortion/doc/hungary.doc Hungary - ABORTION POLICY - United Nations]</ref> * [[Abortion in Poland|Poland]] and [[Abortion in Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] – 1956<ref name="rfsu_sex_och_politik">{{cite web|url=http://www.rfsu.se/sv/Sex-och-politik/Fokus-SRHR/Ratten-till-abort/Polenaffaren/ |title=Rätten till abort - Fokus SRHR - Sex och politik - RFSU |access-date=1 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830060806/http://www.rfsu.se/sv/Sex-och-politik/Fokus-SRHR/Ratten-till-abort/Polenaffaren/ |archive-date=30 August 2010 }}</ref> * [[Abortion in the Czech Republic|Czechoslovakia]] and [[Abortion in Romania|Romania]] – 1957<ref name="Kligman short">Kligman, Gail. "Political Demography: The Banning of Abortion in Ceausescu's Romania". In Ginsburg, Faye D.; Rapp, Rayna, eds. ''Conceiving the New World Order: The Global Politics of Reproduction.'' Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1995 :234-255. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE KIE/49442.</ref>
After the fall of communism, most of Eastern Europe continued with liberal abortion laws except for [[Abortion in Poland|Poland]], where abortion is allowed only in cases of risk to the life or health of the pregnant woman or when the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest. Abortion in cases of an abnormality in an unborn child was ruled unconstitutional by the [[Supreme Court of Poland]] in 2020.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54642108|title=Poland abortion: Top court bans almost all terminations|work=BBC News |date=23 October 2020 |access-date=23 October 2020}}</ref>
While abortion is more widely available in [[Abortion in Hungary|Hungary]] and [[Abortion in Slovakia|Slovakia]], the [[Constitution of Slovakia]] describes human life as "worthy of protection already before birth"<ref>{{cite web |title=Constitution of Slovakia, Article 15.1 |url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Slovakia_2017 |website=www.constituteproject.org |publisher=Constitute Project |access-date=19 August 2023 |date=1992}}</ref> and the [[Constitution of Hungary]] states that "embryonic and foetal life shall be subject to protection from the moment of conception."<ref>{{cite web |title=Constitution of Hungary, Article II |url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Hungary_2011 |website=www.constituteproject.org |publisher=Constitute Project |access-date=19 August 2023 |date=2011}}</ref>
===Scandinavia=== [[File:Kvinnoklinik i Saltsjö-Duvnäs.jpg|thumb| A clinic in Sweden where unlawful abortions were performed during the 1930s.]] [[Abortion in Sweden|Sweden]] was the first liberal democracy in Europe to legalise abortion, in 1938; this move was followed by the introduction of limited abortion laws in Denmark in 1939,<ref name="denmark2">[http://www.kvinfo.dk/side/680/article/58/ The rocky road to abortion on demand]</ref> Finland in 1950,<ref>Pirkko Niemelä. 1988. "Finland." Pg. 152-69 in International Handbook on Abortion. Ed. Paul Sachdev. New York: Greenwood Press</ref> and Norway in 1964. More liberal abortion laws were introduced in [[Abortion in Norway|Norway]] in 1964, [[Abortion in Finland|Finland]] in 1970, and [[Abortion in Denmark|Denmark]] and [[Abortion in Iceland|Iceland]] in 1973.
Greenland has followed Denmark's liberal policy on abortion, and has at times experienced more abortions than live births taking place,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Zhao |first1=Didong |title=Greenland: more abortions than births |url=https://cphpost.dk/2022-07-14/general/greenland-more-abortions-than-births/ |access-date=29 December 2023 |work=Copenhagen Post |date=14 July 2022}}</ref> whereas the Faroe Islands have maintained a more conservative approach; the issue was transferred to the Faroese Parliament (''Løgting'') in 2018.<ref>See references in [[Abortion in Denmark]] article.</ref>
The [[Storting|Parliament of Norway]] (''Storting'') legislated in 2015 that an unborn child is presumed to be [[fetal viability|viable]] at 21 weeks and 6 days unless there are specific reasons otherwise.<ref>[https://lovdata.no/dokument/SF/forskrift/2001-06-15-635 Forskrift om svangerskapsavbrudd (abortforskriften)] § 18 ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160214192714/https://lovdata.no/dokument/SF/forskrift/2001-06-15-635 archive])</ref> The law was clarified as survival after abortion was recorded in some cases at 22 or 23 weeks of gestation.<ref>Christine Svendsen (12 May 2012) [http://www.nrk.no/norge/aborterte-levde-i-over-en-time-1.8128542 Aborterte fostre levde i over en time før hjertet hadde sluttet å slå] NRK. Retrieved 3 January 2013 {{in lang|no}}</ref>
===Western Europe=== The [[Abortion Act 1967]], in Great Britain, was the first major liberalisation of abortion law in Western Europe. English law had previously allowed for abortion on limited grounds under the [[Infant Life Preservation Act 1929]] (also protecting the life of the pregnant woman) and from 1938 under the ''Bourne'' judgment in cases where a pregnancy would result in a pregnant woman becoming a "mental and physical wreck".<ref>''R v Bourne'' [1939] 1 KB 687, [1938] 3 All ER 615, [[Court of Criminal Appeal (England and Wales)|Court of Criminal Appeal]]</ref> Abortion continued to be limited to those grounds in Northern Ireland as the issue was devolved to the [[Northern Ireland Parliament]].<ref>The [[Government of Ireland Act 1920]] transferred matters of criminal law to Northern Ireland, governed by the socially conservative [[Ulster Unionist Party]] until 1972, and Southern Ireland which subsequently became the independent the [[Republic of Ireland]] under Catholic influence. The [[UK Parliament]] decided not to impose changes in abortion law but proceeded with liberalisation in 2019 when the locally-elected [[Northern Ireland Assembly]] was not operating.</ref>
[[File: KAS-Paragraph 218-Bild-26673-2.jpg|thumb|upright|right |'Yes to the child, trust, life, help, no to abortion', poster from Bavaria, 1987.]]
Abortion on request during the first 12 weeks of a pregnancy was permitted in [[East Germany]] from 1972. The same policy was enacted in [[Abortion in Germany|West Germany]] in 1974 but was ruled unconstitutional in 1975 by the [[Federal Constitutional Court]] as it infringed on the right to life of the unborn child. A revised law, with restrictions on abortion, was introduced in 1976.
The court ruled that a "life developing in the mother's womb is under the protection of the [[Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany|Constitution]] as an independent legal interest" and that the "protective duty of the State prohibits not only direct governmental encroachments upon the developing life but, in addition, commands the State to adopt a protective and encouraging role in regard to this life." This obligation was balanced with the rights of the mother – therefore permitting abortion in certain circumstances – although with the protection of fetal life, in principle, taking precedence.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jann |first1=Edmund C. |title=The abortion decision of February 25, 1975 of the Federal Constitutional Court, Federal Republic of Germany |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/2019668707 |website=www.loc.gov|access-date=19 August 2023 |date=1975}}</ref>
The law on [[abortion in France]] was liberalised in 1975 and the changes in France and Germany were followed by similar changes in the law elsewhere in Europe: * [[Abortion in Austria|Austria]] – 1975<ref name="law">[http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/population/abortion/Austria.abo.htm Austria. Federal Law of 23 January 1974. (Bundesgesetzblatt, No. 60, 1974.)]</ref> * [[Abortion in Italy|Italy]] and [[Abortion in Luxembourg|Luxembourg]] – 1978<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/law/help/abortion-legislation/europe.php |title=Abortion Legislation in Europe |date=January 2015 |website=www.loc.gov |language=en |author1=Acosta, Luis |author2=Yatsunska-Poff, Olena |author3=Zeldin, Wendy |author4=Boring, Nicolas |author5=Hofverberg, Elin |author6=Feikert-Ahalt, Clare |author7=Figueroa, Dante |author8=Soares, Eduardo |author9=Roudik, Peter |author10=Rodriguez-Ferrand, Graciela |access-date=2018-05-18}}</ref><ref name="un">{{cite book |title=Abortion Policies: A Global Review |year=2002 |publisher=United Nations Population Division |volume=2 |url=https://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/abortion/doc/luxemb.doc |access-date=2 January 2013 |format=DOC}}</ref> * [[Abortion in the Netherlands|Netherlands]] and [[Abortion in Portugal|Portugal]] – 1984<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zaken |first=Ministerie van Algemene |date=2015-05-11 |title=Abortion |url=https://www.government.nl/topics/abortion |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=www.government.nl |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Vicente |first=Lisa Ferreira |date=2020-04-06 |title=Aborto por opção da mulher: a experiência portuguesa da implementação da Rede Nacional |journal=Cadernos de Saúde Pública |language=pt |volume=36 |issue=Suppl 1 |article-number=e00036219 |pmid=32267398 |issn=0102-311X |url=https://www.scielosp.org/article/csp/2020.v36suppl1/e00036219/ |doi=10.1590/0102-311x00036219 |doi-access=free}}</ref> * [[Abortion in Spain|Spain]] – 1985<ref>{{cite journal |title=Ley Orgánica 9/1985, del 5 de julio, de reforma del Artículo 417 bis del Código Penal |url=http://www.boe.es/aeboe/consultas/bases_datos/doc.php?coleccion=iberlex&id=1985/14138 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120630075111/http://www.boe.es/aeboe/consultas/bases_datos/doc.php?coleccion=iberlex&id=1985/14138 |archive-date=30 June 2012 |language=es |journal=[[Boletín Oficial del Estado]] |access-date=23 July 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> * [[Abortion in Greece|Greece]] – 1986<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ioannidi-Kapolou |first=Elizabeth |date=January 2004 |title=Use of Contraception and Abortion in Greece: A Review |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1016/S0968-8080(04)24001-0 |journal=Reproductive Health Matters |volume=12 |issue=sup24 |pages=174–183 |doi=10.1016/s0968-8080(04)24001-0 |pmid=15938171 |s2cid=10077100 |issn=0968-8080|url-access=subscription }}</ref> * [[Abortion in Belgium|Belgium]] – 1990<ref name="baudouin">{{Cite journal |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/05/world/belgian-king-unable-to-sign-abortion-law-takes-day-off.html |title=Belgian King, Unable to Sign Abortion Law, Takes Day Off |first1=Paul L. |last1=Montgomery |journal=The New York Times on the Web |date=5 April 1990 |pages=A4 |pmid=11647425 |access-date=31 March 2023}}</ref> * [[Abortion in Switzerland|Switzerland]] – 2002<ref>Full vote results by Swiss canton: http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/pore/va/20020602/can487.html</ref>
[[File:March for Choice in Dublin On Saturday 29th. September 2012 (8037511827).jpg|thumb|March for abortion rights in Dublin, 2012.]]
[[File:Manifestazione pro-vita.jpg|thumb|Anti-abortion demonstration in Rome, 2019.]]
King [[Baudouin of Belgium]], a devout Catholic, stepped aside from his role as monarch due to his [[conscientious objection]] to abortion legislation in 1990; the law was approved by the [[Government of Belgium]] (acting as head of state) and [[Baudouin of Belgium|Baudouin]] resumed his reign one day later.<ref name="baudouin" /> King Baudouin's letter on the issue, to his then [[Prime Minister of Belgium|Prime Minister]], [[Wilfried Martens]], is displayed in the [[BELvue Museum]] in Brussels.
The [[Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland|Eighth Amendment]] of the [[Constitution of Ireland]], approved by referendum in 1983, and the subsequent [[Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013]] limited abortion to cases where the pregnant woman's life was endangered. The law on abortion changed significantly to a very liberal policy in [[Abortion in the Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] when, in 2018, the Eighth Amendment was repealed by a subsequent referendum. The resulting law allowed for abortion on request up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, and on more limited grounds at later stages.
[[Abortion in Northern Ireland]] was liberalised in 2019 and 2020, from being permitted in cases of "risk of real and serious adverse effect on ... physical or mental health, which is either long term or permanent" to being available on request up to 12 weeks and on further grounds later in pregnancy.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-50128860|title=Northern Ireland abortion and same-sex marriage laws change|work=BBC News|first=Chris|last=Page|access-date=2019-10-22}}</ref>
In March 2024, [[France]] became the first country to explicitly include the right to abortion within its [[Constitution of France|Constitution]]. This was characterised as a response to the [[Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization|overturning of ''Roe v. Wade'']] in the U.S. in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MSN |url=https://www.msn.com/ |access-date=2024-03-05 |website=www.msn.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-03-04 |title=France makes abortion a constitutional right |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68471568 |access-date=2024-03-05 |language=en-GB}}</ref> In March 2026, [[Luxembourg]] became the second country in the world to constitutionally safeguard abortion access.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Luxembourg MPs Vote to Enshrine Right to Abortion in Constitution |url=http://www.chronicle.lu/category/legal-ip/59923-luxembourg-mps-vote-to-enshrine-right-to-abortion-in-constitution |access-date=2026-03-05 |website=Chronicle.lu}}</ref>
== Grounds for abortion by jurisdiction == [[File:Abortion on request legality (Eurasia 03-12-2024).png|thumb|Map showing the legality of abortion on request in Europe, based on available information in 2022. {{legend|#cc3333|Total ban or prohibited}} {{legend|#fdae61|Only available in cases of rape, incest or the health of the mother}} Legal to term limit of: {{legend|#fee090| 10 weeks}} {{legend|#ffffbf| 11 weeks}} {{legend|#99d8c9| 12 weeks}} {{legend|#66c2a4| 13 weeks (3 months)}} {{legend|#41ae76| 14 weeks}} {{legend|#238b45| 18 weeks (4 months)}} {{legend|#006d2c| 20 weeks}} {{legend|#225ea8| 24 weeks (5½ months)}} {{color box striped|#225ea8|#99d8c9}} 12–28 weeks <br />{{color box striped|#238b45|#99d8c9}} 12 weeks (or later if authorised) <br />{{color box striped|#225ea8|#fdae61}} 10 weeks (or later if authorised) <br />{{color box striped|#cc3333|#99d8c9}} 12 weeks (elective procedure) <br />{{color box striped|#ffffbf|#99d8c9}} Must be approved by committee]] In most European nation-states and other territories, there is a legally defined term limit before which abortion is more available than afterwards.<ref>[https://reproductiverights.org/europes-abortion-laws-comparative-overview Europe's Abortion Laws: A Comparative Overview], [[Center for Reproductive Rights]]</ref> An elective abortion before the term limit may, in some cases, be carried out on request without a [[Indication (medicine)|medical indication]] by the pregnant woman, or under certain conditions.
The grounds on which abortion is, or is not, available vary according to differences in national laws, policies and practices, which may include: * circumstances in which abortion is allowed after the first trimester of a pregnancy;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/population/abortion/Denmark.abo.htm |title=1973 Danish abortion law ''Lovitidende for Kongeriget Danmark'' |publisher=Harvard Law |access-date=2013-07-02}}</ref><ref name="ramo">{{cite news |last1=Rämö |first1=Aurora |title=Suomessa abortin saa helposti, vaikka laki on yksi Euroopan tiukimmista |url=https://suomenkuvalehti.fi/jutut/kotimaa/suomessa-abortin-saa-helposti-vaikka-laki-on-yksi-euroopan-tiukimmista/ |access-date=10 August 2018 |publisher=Suomen Kuvalehti |date=28 May 2018}}</ref> * whether or not counselling or a waiting time (known as ''Bedenkzeit'' in Germany) between the request and the requested termination is required; * availability and cost of medicines or equipment for the procedure; * levels of support or objection from medical and other healthcare professionals (for example, widespread conscientious objection in Italy);<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=http://www.ippfen.org/NR/rdonlyres/2EB28750-BA71-43F8-AE2A-8B55A275F86C/0/Abortion_legislation_Europe_Jan2007.pdf |title=Abortion legislation in Europe |date=January 2007 |publisher=[[International Planned Parenthood Federation]] |access-date=7 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130313162004/http://www.ippfen.org/NR/rdonlyres/2EB28750-BA71-43F8-AE2A-8B55A275F86C/0/Abortion_legislation_Europe_Jan2007.pdf |archive-date=March 13, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Tamma |first1=Paola |title=Even where abortion is legal, access is not granted|url=https://www.europeandatajournalism.eu/eng/News/Data-news/Even-where-abortion-is-legal-access-is-not-granted |access-date=22 August 2018 |work=VoxEurop/EDJNet |date=24 May 2018}}</ref> * whether the parents of a girl requesting an abortion are required to give consent for (or be informed of) an abortion to end an under-age pregnancy.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F1551 |title=Interruption volontaire de grossesse (IVG) |date=2022-03-03 |access-date=2022-07-05}}</ref><ref name=autogenerated1 /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.womenonwaves.org/en/page/6049/serbia--abortion-law |title=Serbia: abortion law|first=Marc|last=Worrell|website=Women on Waves}}</ref> In countries and territories where abortion is more restricted, women regularly travel to neighbouring countries with more liberal laws. For example, almost 8,000 women from the island of Ireland travelled to England and Wales for abortions each year in the early 2000s; however, this number decreased, year on year, to around 4,000 in 2018, and to less than 1,000 per year following changes in the law in Ireland and Northern Ireland.<ref>{{cite web |title=Abortion statistics, England and Wales: 2021, Abortions for women from the Irish Republic |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/abortion-statistics-for-england-and-wales-2021/abortion-statistics-england-and-wales-2021#introduction |website=www.gov.uk |publisher=Department of Health |access-date=31 March 2023 |date=2022}}</ref> In the [[European microstates]] of [[Andorra]], [[Liechtenstein]], and [[Monaco]] there are heavy restrictions, with it being fully illegal in the first two. [[San Marino]] had similar restrictions [[2021 San Marino abortion referendum|until 2022]]. Those seeking abortion must travel to other countries, although such travel is illegal for those in Andorra and Liechtenstein.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20250612-why-are-so-many-european-microstates-against-abortion-monaco-san-marino |title=Why are so many European microstates against abortion? |author1=Renée Bertini |author2=Jade Briend-Guy |work=France24 |date=12 June 2025 |access-date=15 June 2025}}</ref>
At present, a 10-week term limit is accepted in law in countries which were formerly part of [[Yugoslavia]], whereas the 12 to 13 week limits has been adopted in many middle European jurisdictions (including former republics of the [[Soviet Union]] and also most central European countries). Higher term limits are more common in the Western part of Europe and are in place in [[Abortion in France|France]] (14 weeks), Spain, [[Abortion in Sweden|Sweden]] (18 weeks), [[Abortion in Iceland|Iceland]] (22 weeks), and [[Abortion in the Netherlands|the Netherlands]] (24 weeks).<ref>Information provided in table below and related sources.</ref>
Countries with no formal term limit in law include those with more restrictive laws and [[Great Britain]], which has a strongly liberal law and policy; almost 89% abortions in England and Wales in 2021 were undertaken before 10 weeks of gestation, 1 per cent after 20 weeks, and 0.1% after 24 weeks.<ref>{{cite web |title=Abortion statistics, England and Wales: 2021 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/abortion-statistics-for-england-and-wales-2021/abortion-statistics-england-and-wales-2021 |publisher=Department of Health and Social Care |access-date=29 December 2023 |date=2023}}</ref> There are ongoing attempts to fully decriminalise abortion in Great Britain.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg5v900v1y6o |title=MPs set to vote on decriminalising abortion in England and Wales |author1=Brian Wheeler |author2=Nick Triggle |work=BBC |date=11 June 2025 |access-date=15 June 2025}}</ref>
===National abortion laws=== {| class="wikitable sortable references-small" style="border:1px solid #aaa; border-collapse:collapse" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" border="1" |- style="background:#ececec;"fi ! Name ! Elective term limit ! Permitted further grounds |- | {{Flagicon|Albania}} [[Abortion in Albania|Albania]] | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| At any stage: * Risk to life or health of pregnant woman * Severe (incurable) malformation of unborn child Up to 22 weeks: * Social reasons * Pregnancy as a result of sexual crime<ref>{{cite web |title=Abortion legislation in Europe |url=https://europe.ippf.org/sites/europe/files/2016-12/Final_Abortion%20legislation_September2012.pdf |publisher=IPPF Europe |access-date=29 December 2023 |pages=6–7 |date=September 2012}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Andorra}} [[Abortion in Andorra|Andorra]] | style="text-align:right;"| Not applicable | style="text-align:left;"| [[Double effect]] principle – saving the life of the woman may have the unintended consequence of ending a pregnancy.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nouveau Code Palénal |url=https://legislationline.org/sites/default/files/documents/2e/Andorra_CC_2005_fr.pdf |website=www.legislationonline.org |publisher=OSCE |access-date=11 March 2023}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Armenia}} [[Abortion in Armenia|Armenia]] | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| Up to 22 weeks: * Pregnant woman deprived of maternal rights during pregnancy * Divorce * Pregnancy as a result of rape * Medical grounds related to the health of pregnant woman * Congenital abnormality in unborn child<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Armenia |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/armenia |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=2012}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Austria}} [[Abortion in Austria|Austria]] | style="text-align:right;"| 13 weeks <br /> | style="text-align:left;"| * Immediate danger to life of pregnant woman * Serious danger to life or to the physical or mental health of pregnant woman * Serious danger of serious physical or mental defect in unborn child * Pregnant woman became pregnant when under 14 years of age<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://cyber.haalrvard.edu/population/abortion/Austria.abo.htm |title=Federal Law of 23 January 1974. (Bundesgesetzblatt, No. 60, 1974.) |publisher= Harvard University|access-date=11 March 2023}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Azerbaijan}} [[Abortion in Azerbaijan|Azerbaijan]] | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;"|
At any stage: * Child with disabilities in family * Disability of husband
Up to 22 weeks: * Death of husband during pregnancy * Court order depriving or restricting parental rights * Refugee or internally displaced person status * Lack of housing * Recognition of woman or husband as unemployed * Presence of woman or husband in place of imprisonment * Extra-marital pregnancy * Dissolution of marriage during pregnancy * Pregnancy as a result of rape * Multiple children in family (5 or more)<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Azerbaijan |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/azerbaijan |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=20 April 2024 |date=15 December 2023}}</ref>
Azerbaijan has high levels of [[sex-selective abortion]], resulting in the birth of more sons than daughters.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gender-Biased Sex Selection |url=https://azerbaijan.unfpa.org/en/topics/gender-biased-sex-selection |publisher=UN Population Fund |access-date=20 April 2024 |location=Baku}}</ref>
|- | {{Flagicon|Belarus}} [[Abortion in Belarus|Belarus]] | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| At any stage: * Risk to life of pregnant woman Up to 22 weeks: * Imprisonment of pregnant woman or husband * Severe disability in husband * Additional child with a disability since childhood * Death of husband during pregnancy * Divorce during pregnancy * Court decision to remove parental rights * Pregnancy as a result of rape * Family has more than three children * Unemployment of pregnant woman or husband * Refugee status<ref name="denisov">{{cite journal |last1=Denisov |first1=Boris P |last2=Sakevich |first2=Victoria I |last3=Jasilioniene |first3=Aiva |title=Divergent Trends in Abortion and Birth Control Practices in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine |journal=PLOS ONE |date=November 2012 |volume=7 |issue=11 |page= 4 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0049986 |pmid=23349656 |pmc=3542819 |bibcode=2012PLoSO...749986D |doi-access=free }}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Belgium}} [[Abortion in Belgium|Belgium]] | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| At any stage: * Serious threat to life of pregnant woman * Child will suffer from incurable disease if born (based on current scientific knowledge)<ref>{{cite web |title=How an abortion works |url=https://www.vub.be/en/services-vub-campuses-in-etterbeek-and-jette/health-safety/medical-and-psychosocial-services-vub/abortion-in-brussels/how-does-abortion-work#paragraph--id--648753880 |website=www.vub.be |publisher=VUB University |access-date=24 December 2023 |location=Brussels}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Bosnia & Herzegovina}} [[Abortion in Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia and Herzegovina]] | style="text-align:right;"| 10 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| Between 10 and 20 weeks: * Risk to life and health of pregnant woman * Risk to physical or mental health of unborn child * Pregnancy as a result of sexual crime
After 20 weeks: * Saving life or health of pregnant woman<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Bosnia and Herzegovina |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/bosnia-and-herzegovina |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=28 November 2022}}</ref>
Counselling before and after an abortion is required in [[Republika Srpska]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Abortion legislation in Europe |url=https://europe.ippf.org/sites/europe/files/2016-12/Final_Abortion%20legislation_September2012.pdf |publisher=IPPF Europe |access-date=29 December 2023 |pages=15–16 |date=2012}}</ref> |-b | {{Flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Abortion in Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| Up to 20 weeks: * Risk to health of pregnant woman and unborn child At any stage: * Risk to life of pregnant woman * Severe malformation in unborn child<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Bulgaria |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/bulgaria |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=15 December 2023}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Croatia}} [[Abortion in Croatia|Croatia]] | style="text-align:right;" | 10 weeks | style="text-align:left;" |
At any stage: * Risk to life of pregnant woman * Risk of damage to health of pregnant woman * Risk of severe congenital physical or mental defects in unborn child * Pregnancy as a result of sexual crime
A pregnancy may not be terminated if it is demonstrated that this could seriously harm the health of the pregnant woman.<ref>{{cite web |title=Contraception, sterilization, abortion, and artificial insemination, Law No. 1252-1978 of April 21, 1978 on health measures to implement the right to a free decision regarding the birth of children (Narodne Novine, May 4, 1978, No. 18 at 423-426), Articles 1-2, 15-28, 35-38 &, 41-44.* |url=https://reproductiverights.org/maps/provision/croatias-abortion-provisions/#:~:text=Termination%20of%20pregnancy%20is%20a%20medical%20procedure.&text=After%20ten%20weeks%20have%20elapsed,procedure%20prescribed%20by%20this%20Law. |website=Croatia's Abortion Provisions |publisher=Centre for Reproductive Rights |access-date=6 May 2024}}</ref>
|- |{{Flagicon|Cyprus}} [[Abortion in Cyprus|Cyprus]]<ref>''De facto'' in territory outside the Sovereign Base Areas and the [[Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus]] (jurisdiction recognised only by Turkey).</ref> | style="text-align:right;" | 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;" |
At any stage: * Risk to physical or mental health of pregnant woman
Up to 19 weeks: * Pregnancy as a result of sexual crime
Up to 24 weeks: * Severe abnormality in unborn child<ref>{{cite web |title=Abortion Laws in Cyprus: A Comprehensive Overview |url=https://www.chambersandco.com/abortion-laws-in-cyprus-a-comprehensive-overview |website=Laws of Cyprus |publisher=Chambers & Co. |access-date=6 May 2024 |location=Limassol |date=19 March 2023}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Czech Republic}} [[Abortion in the Czech Republic|Czech Republic]] | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;"|
At any stage: * Danger to the life of pregnant woman * Serious malformation in unborn child * Unborn child considered 'incapable of life'
Up to 24 weeks: * Genetic grounds for abortion<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Czech Republic |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/czech-republic |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=15 December 2023}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Denmark}} [[Abortion in Denmark|Denmark]] | style="text-align:right;"| 18 weeks | style="text-align:left;"|
In post 18 weeks : * Risk to life of pregnant woman * Risk of severe deterioration in physical or mental health of pregnant woman * Risk of deterioration of the health of pregnant woman due to existing or potential physical or mental illness (or as a consequence of other conditions) * Danger that unborn child will be affected by serious physical or mental disorder * Pregnant woman considered incapable of giving proper care to child due to physical or mental disability * Pregnant woman considered incapable (for the time) of giving proper care to child due to her youth or immaturity * Pregnancy, childbirth or care of child considered to constitute a serious burden to pregnant woman (which cannot otherwise be averted) * Pregnancy as a result of a criminal act<ref>{{cite web |title=Danish parties agree to raise abortion limit to 18 weeks |website=The Local |url=https://www.thelocal.dk/20240503/danish-parties-agree-to-raise-abortion-term-limit-to-18-weeks|date=3 May 2024}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Estonia}} [[Abortion in Estonia|Estonia]] | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| Up to 22 weeks: * Risk to health of pregnant woman * Severe mental or physical health disorder in unborn child * Medical condition in pregnant woman prevents development of unborn child * Pregnant woman is under 15 years of age * Pregnant woman is over 45 years of age<ref>{{cite web |author1=East Tallinn Central Hospital |title=Termination of pregnancy, (i.e. abortion) |url=https://www.eesti.ee/en/family/pregnancy/termination-of-pregnancy-ie-abortion |website=www.eesti.ee |publisher=Government of Estonia |access-date=29 June 2024 |location=Tallinn |date=7 December 2022}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Finland}} [[Abortion in Finland|Finland]] | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;"|
At any stage: * Risk to health of pregnant woman
Up to 20 weeks: * Care of child after birth would be considerable strain for pregnant woman * Parent has medical condition that will cause difficulty in caring for child * Pregnancy as a result of sexual crime * Probable serious illness or disability in unborn child * Pregnant woman was under 17 years of age at conception * Pregnant woman was over 40 years of age at conception * Pregnant woman has previously given birth to four or more children
Up to 24 weeks: * Serious illness or disability in unborn child
Permission is needed from National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira) for abortions on social grounds or related to serious illness or disability in unborn child.<ref>{{cite web |title=Abortion |url=https://www.infofinland.fi/en/health/abortion |website=www.infofinland.fi |publisher=City of Helsinki |access-date=29 June 2024 |date=24 June 2024}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|France}} [[Abortion in France|France]] | style="text-align:right;"| 14 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| * Serious danger to life of pregnant woman * Serious danger to health of pregnant woman * Significant probability that unborn child will be born with a serious incurable disease<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F1101 |title=Interruption médicale de grossesse (IMG) |date=2021-08-06 |access-date=2022-07-05}}</ref>
The [[Constitution of France]], as amended in 2024, guarantees the freedom of a woman "to have recourse to a voluntary termination of pregnancy".<ref>{{cite book |title=Constitution of France |date=10 March 2024 |publisher=Government of France |url=https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/loda/article_lc/LEGIARTI000049255019 |access-date=29 June 2024 |chapter=Article 34: Relations between Parliament and the Government |quote="La loi détermine les conditions dans lesquelles s'exerce la liberté garantie à la femme d'avoir recours à une interruption volontaire de grossesse."}}</ref>
|- | {{Flagicon|Germany}} [[Abortion in Germany|Germany]] | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| Up to 12 weeks: * Pregnancy as a result of criminal offence
Up to 22 weeks: * Danger to life of pregnant woman * Danger of grave impairment to physical or mental health of pregnant woman * Exceptional distress (at discretion of court)
All abortions must be performed by a physician.<ref>{{cite web |title=Articles 218 & 219, German Criminal Code |url=https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_stgb/englisch_stgb.html |website=www.gesetze-im-internet.de |publisher=Federal Office of Justice |access-date=31 March 2023}}</ref>
|- | {{Flagicon|Georgia}} [[Abortion in Georgia (country)|Georgia]] | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| Available after 12 weeks on medical and social grounds not specified in law but defined by the Ministry of Labour, Health Care and Social Security.
Counselling is required before an abortion with a three-day waiting time. Parental consent for abortion is required in cases where a girl under 14 years of age is pregnant.<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Georgia |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/georgia |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=15 December 2023}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Abortion in the United Kingdom#Great Britain|Great Britain]]<ref>Legislation in Scotland is equivalent to England and Wales but devolved to [[Scottish Parliament]]. See further detail on Northern Ireland, Crown Dependencies and other territories below</ref> | style="text-align:right;"| 24 weeks (excluding Scotland) | style="text-align:left;"| At any stage (England, Wales, Northern Ireland): * Risk to life of pregnant woman * Prevent grave permanent injury to physical or mental health of pregnant woman * Substantial risk of serious physical or mental abnormalities in unborn child Up to 24 weeks (Scotland): * Risk of injury to physical or mental health of pregnant woman * Risk of injury to physical or mental health of any existing children of family of pregnant woman<ref>{{cite web |title=Abortion statistics England and Wales 2020, Statutory grounds for abortion |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/abortion-statistics-for-england-and-wales-2020/abortion-statistics-england-and-wales-2020 |website=www.gov.uk |publisher=Department of Health and Social Care |access-date=11 March 2023}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Greece}} [[Greece]] | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| At any stage: * Risk to life of pregnant woman * Risk of serious and continuous damage to physical or mental health of pregnant woman Up to 19 weeks: * Pregnancy as a result of rape or incest Up to 24 weeks: * Abnormality in unborn child<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Greece |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/greece |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=15 December 2023}}</ref>
|- | {{Flagicon|Hungary}} [[Abortion in Hungary|Hungary]] | style="text-align:right;"| Not applicable | style="text-align:left;"|
At any stage: * Risk to life of pregnant woman * Malformation in unborn child renders post-natal life impossible
Up to 12 weeks: * Severe danger to health of pregnant woman * Probable severe disability or other impairment in unborn child * Pregnancy as a result of criminal act * Severe crisis situation for pregnant woman
Up to 18 weeks on grounds for 12 weeks where: * Pregnant woman partly or fully incapacitated * Pregnant woman did not recognise pregnancy in time * Term limit lapsed due to failure of health institution or authority
Up to 20 weeks (and 24 weeks for delayed diagnoses): * Probability of malformation in unborn child is 50% or more<ref>{{cite web |title=Act LXXIX of 1992 on the protection of fetal life |url=https://reproductiverights.org/maps/provision/hungarys-abortion-provisions |website=www.reproductiverights.org |publisher=Centre for Reproductive Rights |access-date=29 June 2024}}</ref>
The [[Constitution of Hungary]], adopted in 2011, protects "the life of the foetus ... from the moment of conception" in its right to life and human dignity.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fundamental Law of Hungary, Article II |url=https://www.parlament.hu/documents/125505/138409/Fundamental+law/73811993-c377-428d-9808-ee03d6fb8178 |website=Parliament of Hungary |publisher=Ministry of Justice |access-date=30 June 2024 |date=20 December 2020}}</ref>
|- | {{Flagicon|Iceland}} [[Abortion in Iceland|Iceland]] | style="text-align:right;"| 22 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| At any stage: * Risk to life of pregnant woman * Life of unborn child is not considered to be viable<ref>{{cite web |title=Termination of Pregnancy Act, No. 43/2019 |url=https://www.government.is/lisalib/getfile.aspx?itemid=60ae8fd2-0b91-11ea-9453-005056bc4d74 |website=www.government.is |publisher=Government of Iceland |access-date=29 June 2024 |date=2019}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Ireland}} [[Abortion in the Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;"|
At any stage: * Immediate serious risk to life or of serious harm to health of a pregnant woman (in an emergency) * Condition affecting unborn child that is likely to lead to his or her death (either before, or within 28 days of, birth)
Up to [[fetal viability|viability]]:<ref>Defined as the point in a pregnancy at which, in the reasonable opinion of a medical practitioner, the unborn child is capable of survival outside the uterus without extraordinary life-sustaining measures (Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018, Part 2, clause 8).</ref> * Serious risk to life of pregnant woman * Serious risk of harm to health of pregnant woman<ref>{{cite web |title=Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 |url=https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2018/act/31/enacted/en/html |website=Irish Statute Book |publisher=Government of Ireland |access-date=5 August 2023}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Italy}} [[Abortion in Italy|Italy]] | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks and 6 days | style="text-align:left;"|
At any stage: * Serious threat to life of pregnant woman from pregnancy or childbirth * Diagnosis of pathological processes constituting serious threat to physical or mental health of pregnant woman (e.g. associated with serious abnormalities or malformations in unborn child)
Up to 90 days (12 weeks and 6 days): * Serious danger to physical or mental health of pregnant woman due to continuation of pregnancy, childbirth, or motherhood (in view of state of health, economic, social, or family circumstances, or the circumstances in which conception occurred). Page 2, §4,<ref>{{cite web |title=Law No. 194 of 22 May 1978 on the social protection of motherhood and the voluntary termination of pregnancy |url=https://www.columbia.edu/itc/history/degrazia/courseworks/legge_194.pdf |website=www.columbia.edu |publisher=Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana |access-date=30 June 2024 |pages=3642–3646 |date=22 May 1978}}</ref> * Probability of abnormalities or malformations in unborn child<ref>{{cite web |title=Law No. 194 of 22 May 1978 on the social protection of motherhood and the voluntary termination of pregnancy |url=https://www.columbia.edu/itc/history/degrazia/courseworks/legge_194.pdf |website=www.columbia.edu |publisher=Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana |access-date=30 June 2024 |pages=3642–3646 |date=22 May 1978}}</ref>
|- | {{Flagicon|Kazakhstan}} [[Abortion in Kazakhstan|Kazakhstan]]<ref>The sections of the [[West Kazakhstan Region|West Kazakhstan]] and [[Atyrau Region|Atyrau]] regions, west of the Ural River, are considered part of Eastern Europe.</ref> | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;"|
At any stage: * Risk to life of pregnant woman * Malformation in unborn child
From 12 weeks up to 22 weeks: * Death of husband during pregnancy * Confinement of pregnant woman or her husband * Unemployment of pregnant woman or husband * Unmarried status of pregnant woman * Deprivation or limitation of parental rights * Pregnancy as a result of rape * Refugee or forced migrant status of pregnant woman * Disabled child in family * Divorce during pregnancy * Four or more children in family * Pregnant woman is under 18 years of age<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Kazakhstan |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/kazakhstan |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=6 January 2023}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Latvia}} [[Abortion in Latvia|Latvia]] | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| Up to 12 weeks: * Pregnancy as a result of rape
Up to 22 weeks: * On medical indications grounds<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Latvia |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/latvia |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=15 December 2023}}</ref>
|- | {{Flagicon|Liechtenstein}} [[Abortion in Liechtenstein|Liechtenstein]] | style="text-align:right;"| Not applicable | style="text-align:left;"| * Immediate danger to life of pregnant woman * Serious danger to life or health of pregnant woman * Pregnancy as a result of sexual offence * Pregnant woman was under-age at time of conception<ref>{{cite web |title=Criminal Code of 24 June 1987 (as of 1 January 2021) |url=https://legislationline.org/sites/default/files/documents/64/LICH_CC_eng.pdf |website=www.legislationline.org |access-date=11 March 2023}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Lithuania}} [[Abortion in Lithuania|Lithuania]] | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| Up to 22 weeks: * Risk to life of pregnant woman * Risk to physical health of pregnant woman * Risk to mental health of pregnant woman * Risk of malformation in unborn child<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Lithuania |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/lithuania |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=15 December 2023}}</ref>
|- | {{Flagicon|Luxembourg}} [[Abortion in Luxembourg|Luxembourg]] | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| At any stage: * Serious threat to the health or life of pregnant woman * Serious threat to the health or life of unborn child<ref>{{cite web |title=Requesting a voluntary termination of pregnancy |url=https://guichet.public.lu/en/citoyens/sante-social/droits-devoirs-patient/droits-devoirs-patient/interruption-volontaire-grossesse.html |publisher=Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg |access-date=24 December 2023}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Malta}} [[Abortion in Malta|Malta]] | style="text-align:right;"| Not applicable | style="text-align:left;"| Up to [[fetal viability|viability]]:<ref>Defined as the point in a pregnancy at which "the foetus is capable of living outside the uterus according to current medical practices" (Criminal Code, Article 243B)</ref> * Immediate risk to life of pregnant woman from medical complication * Grave jeopardy to health of pregnant woman (which may lead to death from medical complication)<ref>{{cite book |title=Criminal Code of Malta, Articles 241-243 |publisher=Government of Malta |location=Valletta, Malta |page=122 |url=https://legislation.mt/eli/cap/9/eng/pdf |access-date=30 July 2023}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Moldova}} [[Abortion in Moldova|Moldova]] | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| Up to 22 weeks: * Pregnant woman aged under 18 or over 40 years * Pregnancy as a result of rape, incest or trafficking * Divorce during pregnancy * Death of husband during pregnancy * Imprisonment of one or both spouses * Deprivation of parental rights of one or both spouses * Migrant status * Pregnant woman has 5 or more children * Pregnant woman cares for child aged under 2 years (or for one or more family members) with serious disability * Combination of lack of housing, lack of financial resources, alcohol or drug abuse, domestic violence and/or homelessness
After 22 weeks: * Congenital severe malformation in unborn child considered incompatible with life (defined as an induced premature birth rather than abortion)<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Moldova |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/republic-of-moldova |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=15 December 2023}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Monaco}} [[Abortion in Monaco|Monaco]] | style="text-align:right;"| Not applicable | style="text-align:left;"| * Risk to health of pregnant woman * Pregnancy as a result of rape * Irreversible health defect in unborn child Pregnant women living in Monaco are permitted to seek abortion outside the jurisdiction (up to 12 weeks).<ref>{{cite news |title=Monaco to decriminalise abortion, but no legalisation |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20190805-monaco-decriminalise-abortion-but-no-legalisation |access-date=30 June 2024 |work=AFP |agency=AFP |date=5 August 2019}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Montenegro}} [[Abortion in Montenegro|Montenegro]] | style="text-align:right;"| 10 weeks | style="text-align:left;"|
Up to 20 weeks: * Approval by medical committee in cases of serious disability in unborn child, pregnancy as a result of sexual crime, or difficult family circumstances
From 20 to 32 weeks: * Approval by ethics committee in cases involving medical reasons or serious disability in unborn child
From 32 weeks: * Risk to life of pregnant woman<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Montenegro |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/montenegro|website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=15 December 2023}}</ref>
|- | {{Flagicon|Netherlands}} [[Abortion in the Netherlands|Netherlands]] | style="text-align:right;"| 13 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| Up to [[fetal viability|viability]] defined as 24 weeks (22 weeks in practice) where a pregnant woman attests to a state of distress, to be jointly defined by her and a doctor.<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Netherlands |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/netherlands |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=15 December 2023}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Republic of Macedonia}} [[Abortion in North Macedonia|North Macedonia]] | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| * Risk to life and health of pregnant woman * Risk to physical or mental health of unborn child * Pregnancy as a result of sexual crime * Social or economic grounds<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: North Macedonia |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/north-macedonia |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=15 December 2023}}</ref> |- |{{Flagicon|Norway}} [[Abortion in Norway|Norway]] | style="text-align:right;"| 18 weeks | style="text-align:left;"|
Up to [[fetal viability|viability]] defined as 22 weeks: * Pregnancy, childbirth or care of child may result in unreasonable adverse physical, mental, or economic impact on the woman * Major risk that the unborn child may suffer from serious birth defects * Pregnancy as a result of rape * The pregnant woman has a mental illness or physical disability<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Norway |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/norway |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=13 December 2022}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Poland}} [[Abortion in Poland|Poland]] | style="text-align:right;"| Not applicable | style="text-align:left;"| * Danger to life of pregnant woman * Danger to health of pregnant woman * Pregnancy as a result of a criminal act<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Poland |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/poland |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=15 December 2023}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Portugal}} [[Abortion in Portugal|Portugal]] | style="text-align:right;"| 10 weeks | style="text-align:left;"|
At any stage: * Unviable unborn child * Danger to life of pregnant woman * Serious and lasting danger to physical or mental health of pregnant woman
Up to 12 weeks: * Danger to life of pregnant woman * Serious and lasting danger to physical or mental health of pregnant woman
Up to 16 weeks: * Pregnancy as a result of sexual violence
Up to 24 weeks: * Probability of incurable serious disease or congenital malformation in unborn child<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Portugal |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/portugal |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=15 December 2023}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Romania}} [[Abortion in Romania|Romania]] | style="text-align:right;"| 14 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| At any stage: * For therapeutic purposes in the interests of pregnant woman or unborn child Up to 24 weeks: * For therapeutic purposes in the interests (and performed by an obstetricsian or gynaecologist)<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Romania |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/romania |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=28 November 2022}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Russia}} [[Abortion in Russia|Russia]] | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| At any stage: * Medical reasons (include severe abnormality in unborn child and condition endangering health and life of pregnant woman)
Up to 22 weeks: * Pregnancy as a result of rape * Imprisonment of pregnant woman * Deprivation of parental rights * Death or severe disability of husband * Social grounds (as decided by special commission)<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Russian Federation |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/russian-federation |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=15 December 2023}}</ref>
|- | {{Flagicon|San Marino}} [[Abortion in San Marino|San Marino]] | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| At any stage: * Risk to life of pregnant woman Up to [[fetal viability|viability]]: * Abnormality or malformation in unborn child causing serious risk for health of pregnant woman * Pregnancy as a result of sexual crime<ref>{{cite web |title=Law No. 127 of 7 September 2022 - Regulating voluntary termination of pregnancy |url=https://www.consigliograndeegenerale.sm/on-line/documento17134571.html |website=Consiglio Grande a Generale |publisher=Republic of San Marino |access-date=16 August 2024}}</ref>
|- | {{Flagicon|Serbia}} [[Abortion in Serbia|Serbia]] | style="text-align:right;"| 10 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| At any stage: * Risk to life or health of the woman
From 10 weeks to 20 weeks: * Pregnancy as a result of sexual crime * Psychological trauma to pregnant woman * Social and economic reasons<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Serbia |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/serbia |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=14 November 2018}}</ref>
|- | {{Flagicon|Slovakia}} [[Abortion in Slovakia|Slovakia]] | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| * Danger to life of pregnant woman * Danger to health of pregnant woman * Danger to healthy development of unborn child * Genetic abnormality in development of unborn child<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Slovakia |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/slovakia |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=15 December 2023}}</ref>
The [[Constitution of Slovakia]], adopted in 1992, states that human life is "worthy of protection even before birth" in its [[right to life]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Constitution of Slovakia |url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Slovakia_2017 |website=Comparative Constitutions Project |publisher=University of Texas at Austin & University of Chicago |access-date=30 June 2024 |date=2017}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Slovenia}} [[Abortion in Slovenia|Slovenia]] | style="text-align:right;"| 10 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| Up to 28 weeks: * Approval by medical committee Abortions are considered [[stillbirths]] after 22 weeks.<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Slovenia |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/slovenia |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=15 December 2023}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Spain}} [[Abortion in Spain|Spain]] | style="text-align:right;"| 14 weeks | style="text-align:left;"|
Up to 22 weeks: * Risk to life or health of pregnant woman * Serious abnormality in unborn child
At any stage: * Malformation in unborn child deemed incompatible with life * Diagnosis of extreme or incurable disease in unborn child<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Spain |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/spain |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=15 December 2023}}</ref>
|- | {{Flagicon|Sweden}} [[Abortion in Sweden|Sweden]] | style="text-align:right;"| 18 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| Up to 22 weeks: * Serious medical risk to life or health of pregnant woman<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Sweden |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/sweden |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=15 December 2023}}</ref>
|- | {{Flagicon|Switzerland}} [[Abortion in Switzerland|Switzerland]] | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| * Prevention of serious physical harm * Prevention of serious psychological harm<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Switzerland |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/switzerland-2 |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=27 October 2022}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Turkey}} [[Abortion in Turkey|Turkey]] | style="text-align:right;"| 10 weeks | style="text-align:left;"|
* Risk to life of pregnant woman * Severe impairment in unborn child<ref>{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Türkiye |url=https://abortion-policies.srhr.org/country/turkey |website=Global Abortion Policies Database |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=15 December 2023}}</ref> |- | {{Flagicon|Ukraine}} [[Abortion in Ukraine|Ukraine]] | style="text-align:right;"| 12 weeks | style="text-align:left;"| * Medical reasons * Pregnancy as a result of rape<ref name="denisov" /> |- | {{Flagicon|Vatican City}} [[Women in Vatican City#Abortion|Vatican City]] | style="text-align:right;"| Not applicable | style="text-align:left;"| [[Double effect]] principle – saving the life of pregnant woman may have the unintended consequence of ending a pregnancy, as permitted under the [[Zanardelli Code|Italian Penal Code]] in effect.<ref>See [https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7Z.HTM paragraphs 2270-2275, Catechism of the Catholic Church].</ref> |- style=" font-weight:bold; " |}
=== Territories and regions ===
The [[Akrotiri and Dhekelia]] [[Sovereign Base Areas]] of the United Kingdom on the island of Cyprus reflect the [[Abortion Act 1967]] in policy with grounds allowing for aboriton in cases of risk to the life of the pregnant woman, grave permanent injury to her physical or mental health, risk of injury to her physical or mental health (or that of any existing children of the family) and disability in the unborn child; the law was codified in a military ordinance in 1974.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ordinance 9 of 1974 |url=https://www.den.org/home/legislation/01_02_09_05_ORDINANCES/01_02_09_05_15_ORD_1974/19740101_Ord09_G393_u.pdf |publisher=Sovereign Base Administration |access-date=25 December 2023}}</ref>
The [[Faroe Islands]], as a self-governing region within the [[Kingdom of Denmark]], permits abortion on the limited grounds of risk to life, risk of harm to the pregnant woman's health, a high risk of a birth defect in the unborn child, or in cases where the pregnancy was caused by sexual crime.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://webarkiv.ft.dk/Samling/20031/spor_sv/S1361.htm | title=Question S 1361 for the minister of justice | language=da | date=9 January 2004 | publisher=[[Folketing]]et | access-date=1 June 2018 }} </ref> However, in December 2025, the Faroese parliament, the [[Løgting]], passed new legislation granting free access to abortion for any reason up to 12 weeks. The new act will take effect on 1 July, 2026.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://local.fo/faroese-parliament-adopts-bill-to-liberalize-abortion/ | title=Faroese parliament adopts bill to liberalize abortion | language=en | date=7 December 2025 | publisher=local.fo | access-date=20 December 2025 }} </ref>
[[Gibraltar]], as a [[British Overseas Territory]], is self-governing in terms of abortion law and allows for the grounds of risk of injury to physical or mental health of the pregnant woman (up to 12 weeks of gestation), and risk to life, grave permanent injury, or a substantial risk of fatal foetal abnormality (life-limiting condition) in the unborn child at any stage.<ref>{{cite book |title=Crimes (Amendment) Act 2019 |date=2019 |publisher=Government of Gibraltar |url=https://www.gibraltarlaws.gov.gi/uploads/legislations/crimes/2011-23/2019-19.pdf |access-date=29 June 2024}}</ref>
The [[Crown Dependencies]] of [[Guernsey]], [[Jersey]] and the [[Isle of Man]] have similar laws to neighbouring [[England and Wales]].
In Guernsey, abortion is permitted at any stage for an immediate risk to life, to prevent grave permanent injury, and on disability grounds. Up to 24 weeks, abortion is permitted on broad health grounds, where there would be a risk of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman or her existing children.<ref>{{cite web |title=Abortion (Guernsey) Law 1997 (as amended)|url=https://www.guernseylegalresources.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?documentid=62459|publisher=States of Guernsey Legal Resources|access-date=11 August 2024}}</ref> Guernsey legislation on the issue is also applicable in [[Alderney]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Abortion (Alderney) Law 2022|url=https://www.guernseylegalresources.gg/laws/alderney/h/health-and-social-services/abortion-alderney-law-2022|publisher=States of Guernsey Legal Resources|access-date=11 August 2024}}</ref>
The law in [[Jersey]] is more liberal in early pregnancy, permitted abortion on request up to 12 weeks, but more limited thereafter. Disability-related grounds are limited to serious disabilities diagnosed before viability (at 24 weeks) and a risk to life or grave permanent injury are grounds throughout pregnancy.<ref>{{cite web |title=Termination of Pregnancy (Jersey) Law 1997 |url=https://www.jerseylaw.je/laws/current/Pages/20.925.aspx |publisher=Jersey Legal Information Board |access-date=24 December 2023}}</ref>
The [[Isle of Man]] has a highly structured law which allows for 14-week term limit for abortion on request. From 14 weeks to 24 weeks, abortion is legal where the pregnancy was caused by sexual crime or involves serious social grounds for a termination, or substantial risks of serious injury to the woman's life or health, or that the unborn child would be disabled. From 24 week, grounds are limited to risk to life, grave long-term injury, and serious disabilities in the unborn child.<ref>{{cite web |title=Abortion Reform Act 2019 |url=https://legislation.gov.im/cms/images/LEGISLATION/PRINCIPAL/2019/2019-0001/AbortionReformAct2019_1.pdf |publisher=Isle of Man Government |access-date=24 December 2023 |archive-date=28 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220628001833/https://legislation.gov.im/cms/images/LEGISLATION/PRINCIPAL/2019/2019-0001/AbortionReformAct2019_1.pdf }}</ref>
Abortion law in [[Abortion in the United Kingdom#Northern Ireland|Northern Ireland]] was previously devolved to the [[Northern Ireland Assembly]] but was liberalised by the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|UK Parliament]] in 2019 when the Assembly was suspended. The law currently allows for a 12-week term limit, in line with the rest of Ireland, and grounds for risk of injury to physical or mental health (up to 24 weeks), and risk to life, grave permanent injury, and disabilities at any stage.<ref>{{cite web |title=Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/345/contents/made |website=www.legislation.gov.uk |publisher=National Archives |access-date=11 March 2023}}</ref>
In Scotland, abortion law was devolved to the [[Scottish Parliament]] through the [[Scotland Act 2016]] but no changes have followed and the law therefore continues to align with [[England and Wales]].
===Contested jurisdictions===
Several [[states with limited recognition]] exist in Europe, following armed conflicts which resulted in their formation. For example, [[Abkhazia]] and [[South Ossetia]] are internationally recognised as part of [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] whereas [[Transnistria]] has ''de facto'' been separated from [[Moldova]].
Social policy in these states may reflect laws introduced under a previous jurisdiction or by a protecting power which guarantees the security of the territory. Laws in [[Kosovo]] derive from Yugoslav law with a 10-week term limit for abortion on request<ref>{{cite web |title=Pregnancy and Family Planning in Kosovo: A Qualitative Study |url=https://kosovo.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/PregnancyandFPinKosovo-Eng1.pdf |website=UNFPA |publisher=UNFPA & University of Groningen |access-date=30 June 2024 |page=31 |date=December 2006}}</ref> and [[Abortion in Northern Cyprus|Northern Cyprus]] has adopted the same policy, although this follows the approach taken in Turkey which solely recognises it as a jurisdiction.
==See also== {{columns-list|colwidth=30em| * [[Abortion debate]] * [[Abortion law]] * [[Abortion-rights movements]] * [[Anti-abortion movements]] * [[Healthcare in Europe]] * [[Law in Europe]] * [[Religion in Europe]] }}
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
{{Europe in topic|Abortion in}} {{Abortion}} {{Law country lists}} {{Sexual revolution}}
[[Category:Abortion in Europe| ]] [[Category:Abortion law]]