Georgia
ABORTION POLICY
Grounds on which abortion is permitted:
To save the life of the woman
To preserve physical health
To preserve mental health
Rape or incest
Foetal impairment
Economic or social reasons
Available on request
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Additional requirements:
An abortion requires the consent of the pregnant woman; it is authorized if performed by a licensed
physician in a hospital or other recognized medical institution. Abortion is available on request during the first
12 weeks of gestation. Thereafter, induced abortion is available within 28 weeks from conception on judicial,
genetic, vital, broad medical and social grounds, as well as for personal reasons if authorized by a commission
of local physicians.
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CONTEXT
Government view on fertility level:
Too low
Government intervention concerning fertility level:
To raise
Government policy on contraceptive use:
No support provided
Percentage of currently married women using
modern contraception (aged 15-49):
..
Total fertility rate (1995-2000):
1.9
Age-specific fertility rate (per 1,000 women aged 15-19, 1995-2000):
46
Government has expressed particular concern about:
Morbidity and mortality resulting from induced abortion
Complications of childbearing and childbirth
Yes
Yes
Maternal mortality ratio (per 100,000 live births, 1990):
National
Western Asia
33
320
Female life expectancy at birth (1995-2000):
76.8
Source: The Population Policy Data Bank maintained by the Population Division of the Department for Economic and Social Affairs of
the United Nations Secretariat. For additional sources, see list of references.
213
Georgia
BACKGROUND
Georgia, known prior to 1992 as the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, was subject to the abortion
legislation and regulations of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. As a result, abortion practices
in Georgia were similar to those throughout the former USSR.The description given below pertains to the
situation in Georgia prior to independence. There has been no change in the abortion law since
independence in 1992.
The Soviet Decree of 27 June 1936 prohibited the performance of abortions except in cases of danger to
life, serious threat to health, or the existence of a serious disease that could be inherited from the parents.
The abortion had to be performed in a hospital or maternity home. Physicians who performed abortions outside
a hospital or without the presence of one of these indications were subject to one to two years’ imprisonment.
If the abortion was performed under unsanitary conditions or by a person with no special medical education,
the penalty was no less than three years’ imprisonment. A person who induced a woman to have an abortion
was subject to two years’ imprisonment. A pregnant woman who underwent an abortion was subject to a
reprimand and the payment of a fine of up to 300 roubles in the case of a repeat offence.
In its Decree of 23 November 1955, the Government of the former USSR repealed the general prohibition
on the performance of abortions contained in the 1936 Decree. Other regulations issued in 1955 specified that
abortions could be performed freely during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy if no contraindication existed
and after that point when the continuance of the pregnancy and the birth would harm the mother
(interpreted to include foetal handicap). The abortion had to be performed in a hospital by a physician and,
unless performed in cases of a threat to the mother’s health, a fee was charged. Persons who performed an
abortion illegally were subject to criminal penalties under the Criminal Code. For example, if the abortion
was not performed in a hospital, a penalty of up to one year’s imprisonment could be imposed; if performed
by a person without an advanced medical degree, a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment was possible.
In the case of repeat offences or the death or serious injury of the pregnant woman, a higher penalty of up to
eight years’ imprisonment could be imposed. A woman who underwent an illegal abortion was not
penalized.
Despite the approval of the 1955 Decree and regulations, the problem of illegal abortions did not
entirely disappear in the former Soviet Union. This situation resulted in part from the Government’s
conflicted attitude towards contraception. Although at times the Government manifested support for
contraception, it did little to make contraception available and in 1974 effectively banned the widespread
use of oral contraceptives. The situation was also due in part to a revived pronatalist approach to
childbearing adopted at times by the Government, which looked unfavourably on abortion. The result was
a reliance on abortion as the primary method of family planning.
Concerned with the high rate of illegal abortions, the Government in 1982 issued a decree allowing
abortions for health reasons to be performed through the twenty-eighth week of pregnancy. Continuing this
approach of increasing the circumstances under which legal abortions were available, on 31 December
1987 it issued an order setting out a broad range of non-medical indications for abortions performed on
request through the twenty-eighth week of pregnancy. These included the death of the husband during
pregnancy; imprisonment of the pregnant woman or her husband; deprivation of maternity rights;
multiparity (the number of children exceeds five); divorce during pregnancy; pregnancy following rape; and
child disability in the family. Moreover, the order provided that, with the approval of a commission, an
abortion could be performed on any other grounds.
Source: The Population Policy Data Bank maintained by the Population Division of the Department for Economic and Social Affairs of
the United Nations Secretariat. For additional sources, see list of references.
22
Georgia
This extension of the grounds for abortion after the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, combined with the
ambivalent attitude of the Government towards contraception, led to a dramatic increase in the number of
officially reported abortions. Other factors resulting in a high incidence of abortion have included shortages
of high-quality modern contraceptives; reliance upon less reliable traditional methods; a lack of knowledge
among couples of contraception and of the detrimental health consequences of frequent abortions; and the
absence of adequate training for physicians, nurses, teachers and other specialists.
During the 1990s, a sharp decline in the abortion rate itself could be observed, from 41.1 abortions per
1,000 women aged 15-49 in 1992 to 21.9 in 1996. This drop is believed to reflect a reduced reliance on
abortion as a method of fertility regulation and an increased recourse to contraception.
Source: The Population Policy Data Bank maintained by the Population Division of the Department for Economic and Social Affairs of
the United Nations Secretariat. For additional sources, see list of references.
213