Press statement

“A pregnant situation”

Research about compulsory abortion counselling in Hungary

PATENT Association, July 2014

In spring 2014, PATENT Association Hungary conducted a study about the practice of compulsory counselling, set by law as the precondition of obtaining abortion in Hungary. There are two counselling sessions in Hungary, of which the first has to be “in the interest of keeping the fetus”, including information on the “dangers of abortion” and its effects on later pregnancies. Following a minimum three-day waiting period, the second session is supposed to be only informative and administrative. Our study’s aim was to examine how the women attending the sessions were treated: were their personal freedom to decide over their bodies, were their autonomy and human dignity respected, what attitude they experienced on part of the counsellor, in what tone were they addressed, and what kind of information they received. We were looking to answer the question of whether women’s rights are violated during the compulsory sessions, whether it occurs that their dignity and feelings are violated or disregarded, and if so, in what forms, through what acts did this occur.