Legislația românească privind avortul în context european

In the present-day it is impossible to analyse the legislation of a country, without referring to foreign legislations. This is because now, more than any time before, states actually interfere and influence each other at the legislation level. Given this situation, it is useful to compare the status of abortion in Romania with the status of abortion in other countries. In this way we may discover the weak points of our laws on abortion, and we also may find the appropriate solution for improvement. As the European Court of Human Rights observes, it remains within the states’ prerogatives to establish the legal status of abortion. And there are some European countries which have chosen to criminalise abortion. At the same time, the Council of Europe recommends a relatively high liberalization of abortion, while keeping a delicate balance between the rights of the pregnant woman and the rights of the foetus. The vast majority of European countries, including Romania, fit these general prescriptions and have a permissive legislation on abortion. In this context, it is very important to define the limits of the freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Because whenever a doctor refuses to perform an abortion, based on these grounds, this can affect citizens’ rights to have an abortion, when such a right is provided by the law.