Child Abortion And The Crime Of Child Abortion
The crime of abortion is regulated in Article 100 of the Turkish Penal Code. It is stated in the article that if the legal period of 10 weeks, which is the legal period in which a person can terminate the pregnancy voluntarily, is exceeded, if the pregnant woman knowingly aborts her child, she will be punished with imprisonment up to 1 year or a judicial fine. The crime is a specific crime and the perpetrator of the crime is the pregnant woman. It is a crime that can only be committed intentionally, as the spiritual element of the crime does not foresee a negligent state.
The person who supplies the pregnant woman with the means that will enable or help her to abort her child or who encourages or provokes her to abort her child may also be punished under the provisions of participation.
On the other hand, the prosecution of the relevant offense is not subject to complaint. The competent court is the Criminal Court of First Instance.
In terms of the crime of abortion, the legislator has made a distinction according to whether or not the pregnant woman consents to the act constituting the crime. The crime of abortion is regulated in Article 99 of the TPC. According to the relevant article, termination of pregnancy without the consent of the pregnant woman, regardless of the week of pregnancy, is subject to certain criminal sanctions. Accordingly, a person who aborts a woman’s child against her will shall be punished with imprisonment from five to ten years. However, if the woman has been caused to suffer harm in terms of physical or mental health, the person is punished with imprisonment from six to twelve years, as the legislator considers this as a reason to increase the punishment. If the act causes the death of the woman, the legislator has regulated the sanction as imprisonment from fifteen to twenty years. Due to the aggravated nature of the penalty of the crime, the Serious Criminal Courts are in charge.
In order for the relevant crime to be committed, the woman must be pregnant and the fetus must be in the womb.
The cases of medical necessity mentioned in paragraph 2 of Article 99 of the TPC are stated as follows:
The pregnancy threatens the life of the mother or one of her vital organs,
If the pregnancy threatens the mother’s life or one of her vital organs in the future,
The pregnancy will cause severe disability for the child to be born and the generations to follow.
The reason for compliance with the law is regulated for this special situation. Pregnancy can be terminated in a hospital environment by specialist physicians, regardless of the duration of pregnancy, with delegation reports obtained from health institutions.
Another reason that eliminates the fault in the aforementioned crime is the termination of pregnancy when the pregnant woman is the victim of a crime. If the pregnant woman is the victim of any crime, she can have the child aborted with her own consent, with the permission of the judge, if she has not exceeded the 20th week of pregnancy. What is meant by the victim of the crime of abortion is that a woman who is sexually assaulted or who becomes pregnant during prostitution can terminate the pregnancy up to the 20th week by specialist physicians with the permission of the judge with her own consent.
The important issue in the relevant crime is who will terminate the pregnancy. Pregnancy can only be terminated in a hospital by specialized physicians. Article 99/5 of the TPC states that “even if it is based on consent, if a woman whose pregnancy has not completed ten weeks of gestation is aborted by an unauthorized person; imprisonment from two years to four years shall be sentenced. If the other acts defined in the above paragraphs are committed by an unauthorized person, the penalty to be imposed according to these paragraphs shall be increased by half “ in the regulation, it is stated that unauthorized persons will be punished in termination of pregnancy. In this case, this crime occurs even if the 10-week legal period has not expired. In this crime, the perpetrator is the person or persons who are not authorized to terminate the pregnancy.