Termination of pregnancy in Türkiye: the legal framework
The legal time limit for termination of pregnancy in Türkiye, the rules on age and consent, the grounds of medical necessity and how the procedure is carried out.
Termination of pregnancy — in medical terms the emptying of the contents of the uterus by medical means, through dilatation and curettage or aspiration — is subject in Türkiye not only to medical indications but to strict legal limits set out in Law No. 2827 on Population Planning.
This page describes what the law provides. It is written to inform, not to offer a service.
The legal time limit and conditions
Under Turkish legislation, termination at the woman's request can be carried out provided certain conditions are met.
- The time limit. Termination at the woman's request is lawful up to the end of the 10th week of pregnancy. After the 10th week, a termination at request is not legally possible. The week of pregnancy is calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period and confirmed by ultrasound and gynaecological examination.
- Age and consent. The woman must have reached the age of 18. For those under 18, the consent of a parent or guardian is required.
- Marital status and spousal consent. Under the law, a woman who is officially married requires her husband's formal written consent for a termination at request. Unmarried women over 18 may take this decision on their own consent.
Grounds of medical necessity
Where the pregnancy has passed the 10th week, termination can be carried out only where there is a vital medical necessity. These situations are:
- Risk to the mother's health. The presence of serious physical or psychiatric illness such that continuing the pregnancy would endanger the mother's life.
- Foetal anomalies. Where ultrasound or genetic screening identifies developmental or genetic anomalies incompatible with life, or capable of causing severe disability for the child and for subsequent generations.
- Anembryonic pregnancy or loss in the womb. Where the embryo has not developed, or the baby has died in the womb, medical evacuation is carried out.
In these situations beyond the 10th week, a report from a medical board of specialist doctors must be issued before the procedure can take place.
How the procedure is carried out
In current gynaecological practice, vacuum aspiration is generally preferred as the least traumatic method. To minimise the risk of infection, the procedure is carried out in fully sterile clinic or operating theatre conditions, under local or general (sedation) anaesthesia according to the patient's medical situation.
Afterwards, taking any antibiotics or painkillers prescribed by the doctor regularly, abstaining from sex for a defined period, and avoiding environments carrying a risk of infection — pools, the sea, baths — all matter a great deal to physical recovery.
See also termination of pregnancy.