You have the right to freely decide whether to preserve or terminate your pregnancy. This choice is part of your human right to a private life.
Termination of pregnancy & Private life
Your right to a private and family life encompasses the right to the free choice of whether to become a parent. You have the right to freely decide about the termination of a pregnancy (abortion) or sterilisation if you do not wish to give birth to, or conceive, a child.
example You may wish to terminate a pregnancy resulting from rape.
Read more about the choice to become a parent or not.
Read more about pregnancy and child birth.
important Pregnancy and the interruption of pregnancy does not pertain uniquely to your own private life, as your private life is closely connected with the life and health of the developing foetus.
Information & Access to a termination procedure
Being properly informed in a timely manner about the termination procedure, its risks and impact to your health, as well as access to, and the availability of, the necessary medical treatment is also part of the human right to health.
The possibility of having a termination is limited in time, therefore, the time factor is of critical importance. The necessary medical tests should be conducted in a timely manner so that you can decide whether to terminate your pregnancy without delay. After receiving the necessary test results, the procedure should be carried out, if you so wish, forthwith.
example Access to relevant information on the mother’s and foetus’ health should not be delayed, especially if such information indicates a malformation of the foetus, and may be decisive in choosing whether to continue the pregnancy.
example The procedure should be carried out without delay, to limit and prevent damage to the mother’s health which may be occasioned by a late termination of pregnancy.
Read more about access to information about reproductive health and access to reproductive health care.
Termination procedure
There may be different reasons for deciding on a termination of pregnancy. You may not wish to become a parent at a particular time or have a child with a particular person. Negative medical indications for you, or for the foetus’ health, or a pregnancy caused by rape, may be reasons for termination. Before the procedure, you will be asked to fill out a statement confirming that you have taken an informed decision to do so.
There are no prohibitions on terminating a pregnancy in Lithuania. However, your right to decide on the termination of a pregnancy has certain restrictions, such as the time period for carrying out the procedure, which are set out in the Termination Procedure.
example A termination can only be carried out until the 12th week of the pregnancy. In the case of medical indications, a pregnancy can be terminated after the 12th week too.
important The Compulsory Health Insurance Fund budget covers only medically indicated terminations of pregnancy.
Pregnancy of a minor & Termination
Although you have the right to freely decide on the preservation or termination of a pregnancy, the interests and circumstances of your parents or legal guardian are also involved in this decision. Thus, if you are younger than 16 years, the doctor must inform your parents or legal guardian about the fact of your pregnancy and the termination may be carried out only with the consent of at least one of your parents, or your legal guardian.
What human rights violation may there be?
Your right to health may have been violated if you are denied a termination procedure even though the legal requirements have been met. This may also lead to a violation of your right to a private life since aspects of your reproductive health are closely linked to your private life.
If you have been denied access to information about your, and your expected baby’s health, or you have not been correctly and properly informed in a timely manner, this may have negatively affected your private life and thus led to a violation of your right to a private life. Your right to a private life may also have been violated if you need to terminate your pregnancy due to medical negligence by doctors.
example Your right to a private life may have been violated if you only decided to terminate your pregnancy due to contradictory and/or misleading information about a genetic disorder in the foetus.
example Your right to a private life may have been violated if a doctor carried out a medical act on you intended for another person due to a mix-up at the hospital and as a result of this error, you were obliged to undergo a pregnancy termination, despite the previously determined good state of your, and the expected baby’s health.
If the procedure is denied only because you belong to a group with certain characteristics associated with your race, origin, religious beliefs, political affiliation, sexual orientation or other similar grounds, it may violate the prohibition on discrimination.