Nearly 15% Increase in Abortion Permits in Iran Over 10 Months

The Medical Legal Organization of the country announced that in the first 10 months of the current year, the issuance of therapeutic abortion permits in the country's medical legal centers has increased by 14.6%. This statistic was published on Saturday, March 8, on the official website of the Medical Legal Organization. According to this report, 5,806 abortion permits have been issued in the last 10 months. During this period, 8,131 individuals applied for therapeutic abortion permits at medical legal centers across the country, with only 71.4% of these requests approved. In the provinces, Tehran with 873 permits, Khorasan Razavi with 635, and Khuzestan with 482 permits had the highest number of 'legal' abortions in the last 10 months. Semnan province had the lowest statistics with 24 permits, followed by South Khorasan with 47 and Ilam with 51 permits. One of the most important conditions for issuing a therapeutic abortion permit in the medical legal system is the 'gestational age,' which, according to the law, must be before four months or before 19 weeks. According to official statistics, 220,000 abortions occur annually in Iran, of which only '7,000 cases of these abortions' are authorized. Illegal abortions have, in some cases, led to the death of mothers. Iran's laws impose many restrictions on abortion, allowing this action only under specific conditions. The International Federation for Human Rights has described the prevention of the right to abortion as 'violence against women' and stated that 'repressive laws that criminalize access to abortion are still in effect across all continents and are a serious violation of women's rights.' Abdolkarim Lahiji, the president of this federation, described these laws as 'violent and deadly,' stating that 'they not only control women's bodies but also force women to resort to underground and unsafe abortions, which pose serious health risks and sometimes endanger their lives.' Khadijeh Sharif, the coordinator of the Women’s Rights Action Group at the International Federation for Human Rights, also stated that criminal convictions for underground abortions increase the number of victims among women living in unbearable conditions.