Abortion Laws in Serbia

SERBIA. Law of 30 June
1977, the Act concerning the conditions of and procedures for the termination of pregnancy.

I. The basic provisions.

Article 1. This law provides for the realization of the right to decide freely on the birth of children through termination of pregnancy, and for the limitation of this right for the sake of the protection of health of the pregnant woman; this law describes the conditions and the procedures for the execution of the termination of pregnancy as a form of special surgical intervention.

Article 2. Termination of pregnancy shall be performed upon [the oral] request of the pregnant woman within ten weeks form the day of conception.

Article 3. After expiration of the period of ten weeks, but before expiration of the period of twenty weeks from the date of conception, the termination of pregnancy may be performed upon the request of the pregnant woman, but only with the authorization of the Commission for the Termination of Pregnancy under the conditions described in this Act.

Article 4. The termination of pregnancy of someone who is either a juvenile or a person under guardianship may be performed only with the consent of the parents or guardian respectively.

Such consent may also be given by the organ of guardianship if the consent of the parent or guardian cannot be secured because of their absence or because of some other impediment.

II. The termination of pregnancy.

1. Termination of pregnancy within a period of ten weeks counting from the day of conception.

Article 5. The pregnant woman who desires to terminate her pregnancy within the period of ten weeks from the date of conception must submit an oral request to the specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology in the medical establishment in which such terminations of pregnancies are performed, as well as determinations of whether there is a pregnancy and how long it has lasted.

Article 6. The medical specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology must explain to the pregnant woman the danger and possible damaging consequences of the termination of pregnancy to her health; he must especially do so in cases of termination of a first pregnancy and in cases of repeated termination of pregnancy. Furthermore, he must inform the woman about means and methods of contraception; and he must advise her to see a social worker or a psychologist should that become necessary.

Article 7. The pregnant woman who requests the termination of pregnancy must, in the medical organization of associated labour in which the termination is going to be performed, give her signed consent to the termination of pregnancy.

The medical organization of associated labour in which the termination of pregnancy will be performed shall also perform the examination of the blood group, Ph and Rhesus factor of the pregnant woman insofar as it does not yet have such data.

Article 8. The termination of pregnancy may be performed if it is established that the health of a pregnant woman could be damaged thereby.

The medical specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology will decide independently, and if need be in consultation with specialists from other branches of medicine, whether there is a danger that the termination of pregnancy could result in damage to the health of the pregnant woman.

If the pregnant woman insists on having her pregnancy terminated in spite of the danger established according to the provisions of the second paragraph of this Article, she must submit a written request according to the rules and procedures as described in this law concerning the termination of pregnancies longer than ten weeks from the day of conception.

2. The termination of pregnancy after the expiration of ten weeks from the date of conception.

Article 9. Upon the request of the pregnant woman, the termination of pregnancy may be performed even after the expiration of the period of ten weeks from the date of conception, but not later than twenty weeks after the date of conception, with the authorization of the Commission for the Termination of Pregnancy, but only in the following cases:

1. when it is established on the basis of medical indications that the life or health of the pregnant woman is seriously endangered and cannot be preserved during the pregnancy, during the delivery, or after the delivery unless the pregnancy is terminated;

2. when there are indications that the child will be born with serious physical or mental handicaps;

3. whenever the conception is due to a criminal act of rape, sexual act with an incompetent person, sexual act with a juvenile, sexual act connected with an abuse of official position, sexual act of seduction, or incest;

4. whenever the pregnant woman would, during her pregnancy or after the childbirth, encounter serious personal, family-related or material problems.

Article 10. In exceptional cases, the termination of pregnancy on the basis of
Article 9, subsection 1 of this law may be performed because of medical indications without regard to the time expired since conception.

Article 11. In cases provided for in Article 9, subsection 1 of this Act, when it is impossible to wait for the official processing of the request for the termination of pregnancy by the Commission because the termination of pregnancy is urgent, such termination may be performed without a prior decision of the Commission upon the authorization of the director of the medical establishment, or the physician substituting for him.

III. Commissions for the Termination of Pregnancy, their composition and their jurisdiction.

Article 12. The authorization for the termination of pregnancy after the expiration of ten weeks from the day of conception is given by the Commission for the
Termination of Pregnancy.

Such Commissions for the
Termination of Pregnancy are: the Commission of First
Instance for the Termination of Pregnancy and the Commission of Second Instance for the Termination of Pregnancy.

Article 13. The Commission for the Termination of pregnancy will be constituted by the Self-Management Interest Community of Medical Insurance having jurisdiction in the particular area.

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Article 14. The Commission for the Termination of Pregnancy is composed of the president and two members.

The president of the
Commission shall be a medical specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology and the members of the Commission shall be a general medical practitioner or a specialist in internal medicine and a social worker or a psychologist.

Article 15. The termination of pregnancy after the expiration of ten weeks from the date of conception shall be allowed by the Commission of First Instance for the
Termination of Pregnancy.

Article 16. The Commission of Second Instance for the Termination of
Pregnancy shall make decisions concerning the termination of pregnancy in cases where an appeal is taken from the decision of the Commission of First
Instance.

Article 17. The Commissions of First Instance and Second Instance may be formed within a medical organization of associated labour that meets all the conditions for the performance of the terminations of pregnancy described in this
Act.

IV. Proceedings for the termination of pregnancies before the Commissions.

Article 18. The proceedings accompanying the request for the termination of pregnancy shall be treated as urgent, and during said proceedings, secrecy as well as the utmost respect for the personality and dignity of the pregnant woman must be guaranteed.

Article 19. The pregnant woman must submit her request for the termination of pregnancy to the Commission of First Instance for the Termination of
Pregnancy of that Self-Management Interest Community of Medical Insurance where she resides at the time of that request or according to her own choice.

If the pregnant person is a juvenile or a person under guardianship, the request for termination of pregnancy may also be submitted by the parent or guardian, or an organ of guardianship, respectively.

Article 20. The request for the termination of pregnancy must be accompanied by a written opinion of the medical specialist of the respective branch of medicine within which falls the illness of the pregnant woman or the illness of the parents [pursuant to Article 9, subsections 1 and 2 of this Act]; an affidavit of the public prosecutor having jurisdiction over the matter certifying that a criminal investigation has been initiated [pursuant to Article 9, subsection
3 of this Act]; or an opinion of the Service of Social Protection of the proper county or centre for social work concerning the serious nature of the applicant’s problems [pursuant to Article 9, subsection 4 of this
Act].

It shall be presumed that the request for the termination of pregnancy contains the consent of the person submitting such request within the meaning of Article 24 of the Law concerning
Medical Protection and Medical Services.

Article 21. While the Commission is discussing the request for the termination of pregnancy, the pregnant woman herself, as well as her spouse or the person with whom she lives in an extra-marital household, may be present, as well as the parents or guardians of the juvenile for whom the termination of pregnancy is to be performed.

Article 22. During the procedure for the termination of pregnancy, the
Commission processing such a request must inform the persons present, pursuant to
Article
21 of this Act, of the possibilities and methods of contraception.

The Commission must point out the damaging influence of termination of pregnancies insofar as the health of the pregnant woman is concerned, especially whenever the termination involves the first pregnancy or a greater number of terminations of pregnancy.

Article 23. The decision of the Commission of First Instance will be communicated to the persons submitting the request for the termination and the record containing the decision will be distributed immediately after the
Commission’s session.

Article 24. Oversight of the professional work of the Commission for the
Termination of Pregnancy and of the medical organizations of associated labour in which terminations of pregnancies are performed falls under the provisions of the
Act concerning Medical Protection and Medical Services.

Article 25. If the applicant for the termination of pregnancy is not satisfied with the decision of the Commission of First Instance, she has the right to request an appeal before the Commission of Second Instance.

The applicant may, on the occasion of the communication of the decision by the Commission of First
Instance, immediately ask that the request and the documentation be transferred without delay to the Commission of Second Instance, which will be construed as an appeal to the Commission of Second Instance.

In the case described in the previous paragraph, the Commission of First Instance must submit all the documentation and the request to the Commission of Second Instance.

The Commission of Second
Instance must decide the case within seven days following the receipt of the request.

The decision of the
Commission of Second Instance is final.

Article 26. The functioning of the Commission will be described in the record and a special register will be kept.

The record of the materials concerning the work of the Commission will be guarded in a special archive of the medical organization of associated labour within which the
Commission functions.

Article 27. The Commission must file a yearly report of its work to the
Self-Management
Interest Community of Medical Insurance having jurisdiction over the
Commission.

V. The
Medical Organization of Associated Labour in which termination of pregnancies may be performed.

Article 28. Terminations of pregnancies may be performed in those medical organizations of associated labour which: 1) have the consulting services for pregnant women and for family planning; 2) have a special programme of medical education concerning family planning and the development of humane and responsible relationships between men and women; 3) have hospital services for the medical protection of women along with a medical specialist obstetrician and gynaecologist, proper equipment, and a special room for the performance of terminations of pregnancy; 4) have within the organization a social worker or psychologist;
5) have a special service for the transfusion of blood; and 6) have a special operating room.

The Republic’s Secretariat for
Health and Social Policy may, under exceptional circumstances, give consent to the terminations of pregnancy in medical organizations which do not meet the preconditions listed in subsection 1 of this Article, if they have:
1) a consultation service for pregnant woman and for family planning; 2) a special programme of medical education concerning family planning and the development of humane and responsible relationships between men and women; 3) a medical specialist obstetrician and gynaecologist; 4) a special room for the termination of pregnancies with proper equipment, instruments and medicine; 5) a special room for short-term rest; and 6) guaranteed transfer via ambulance connecting this organization to the nearest hospital having a special gynaecology service.

The medical organization of associated labour described in paragraph 2 of this Article may only terminate pregnancies within a period of ten weeks from the day of conception.

Article 29. After the termination of pregnancy, the woman is guaranteed medical supervision.

Medical supervision is guaranteed either in the medical organization of associated labour or in the home of the pregnant woman through the visiting nurse service, or in any other appropriate manner.

Medical supervision will be carried out especially in those cases where the termination of pregnancy is performed after ten weeks from the day of conception or where the pregnant woman already has an illness which was not the reason for the termination of the pregnancy.

Article 30. If suspicion of criminal activity is raised by the completion of a termination of pregnancy that has already begun, the medical organization of associated labour in which the termination of pregnancy was completed must, without delay, inform the public prosecutor having jurisdiction over the matter.

VI. Penal provisions.

Article 31. A fine of up to twenty thousand dinars will be imposed on a medical organization of associated labour for the following violations: 1) if it performs a termination of pregnancy without the authorization of the
Commission for the Termination of Pregnancy [under Article 3 of the Act]; 2) if it performs a termination of pregnancy of a juvenile person without the consent of the parents or guardians, or the organ of guardianship, respectively [under
Article
4]; 3) if it does not preserve the secrecy of the work of the
Commission deciding on the termination of pregnancy [under Article 8]; 4) if it does not insure the existence and proper documentation of the record and the register of the work of the Commission deciding on termination of pregnancies
[under
Article 26]; 5) if it terminates pregnancies without satisfying the conditions described in Article 28, subsection 1); 6) if it terminates pregnancies without the authorization of a superior authority [under Article 28, paragraph
2]; or 7) if it does not notify the public prosecutor having jurisdiction as required by Article 30. A fine of one thousand dinars will be imposed on the responsible person in the medical organization of associated labour for violations described in paragraph 1 of this
Article and for violations described in paragraph 3, a fine of one thousand dinars will be imposed on the person taking part in the work of the Commission.