Abortions in Lithuania (2): what complications this procedure can cause in a woman and what is the opinion of specialists about illegal medical abortion | 15MAX

In the first part of the abortion topic “Abortions in Lithuania (1): at what age do women choose to terminate their pregnancies, what help do they receive and what do they lack?” we review the statistics and the prevailing situation: the reasons why women choose to terminate their pregnancies, the age at which women have an abortion most often, the consequences of the expected relief or the emotional, psychological crisis, what help needs a woman to solve that life dilemma, and what help do women lack at the state level?

In the second part we will talk about the legalized abortion method in Lithuania: surgical complications that threaten after abortion, if abortion can become a reason why a woman can no longer conceive, what is medical abortion allowed in most from European countries but not legalized in Lithuania, or safer than surgery. What harm can such an abortion arbitrarily cause and who is at risk of being performed illegally by a person or institution?

Each case is considered by a medical council.

The performance of abortion operations in Lithuania is regulated by the 1994 Decree of the Minister of Health. The Order “On the procedure to perform a pregnancy surgery” was issued, which establishes that a woman can, at her request, interrupt her pregnancy for up to 12 weeks if there are no contraindications for this surgery: acute and subacute genital inflammation, acute inflammation and subacute, acute infectious diseases.

Abortion surgery is allowed only after these diseases have been cured. In all cases, the pregnancy can only be terminated in the gynecology department of the hospital.

It is allowed to interrupt a pregnancy of more than 12 weeks when it threatens the life and health of the woman. Pregnancy of more than 12 weeks is terminated in the Vilnius and Kaunas Perinatology Centers according to medical indications.

Your decision to terminate the pregnancy must be accepted by the woman herself, preferably her partner, and signed, as there can be no coercion.

According to data from the Institute of Hygiene, in 2019, 6436 abortions were performed, of which 3196 were induced. 50.3 percent. The abortions were caused by ectopic pregnancies (pregnancies that develop outside the uterine cavity (fallopian tube, abdominal cavity, ovary, rudimentary uterine horn)), spontaneous abortions and other abortions, 46.8% – abortions performed by a women voluntarily, 2.9% – abortions, performed according to medical indications.

Thus, in addition to not being born for personal reasons, abortions for women are also performed for certain medical indications. The aforementioned order of the Minister of Health also contains a list of diseases and conditions that can endanger the life and health of a pregnant woman and the fetus. This list includes about a hundred infectious, parasitic, oncological, endocrine, circulatory, congenital, hereditary, mental and other diseases.

Obstetrician-gynecologist in charge of the Department of Obstetrics-Gynecology of the Telšiai Regional Hospital Tomas Lūža stated that over the years (since the order was issued) much had changed in terms of both diagnosis and treatment of diseases, and explained that the established list of diseases did not mean that a woman was immediately at risk of miscarriage . According to the doctor, each case is individual and considered by a medical council, which is usually made up of an obstetrician-gynecologist, a geneticist, a specialist in a certain disease suffered by a woman.

“There is a certain list of diseases in which medical indications can cause an abortion. It is about certain fetal diseases, pathologies, birth defects that would prevent the survival of the fetus, or certain threats to the health of women due to their diseases and pregnancy would worsen their condition or even threaten their life. But it is certainly not the case that if a woman suffers from a listed disease, she has an abortion immediately.

Let’s say diabetes is one of the diseases on this list, but women who have it give birth to the best of their ability. There are often problems and complications during pregnancy, but that doesn’t really mean that you shouldn’t let a woman give birth. In any case, this is considered and decided by the medical council. Your decision to terminate the pregnancy must be accepted by the woman herself, preferably her partner, and signed, as there can be no coercion. If the woman does not agree, the abortion is not performed, “explained obstetrician-gynecologist T. Lūža.