June 7, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has incurred the wrath of the country’s pro-abortion feminists by proposing to reduce the limit on abortions to the first four weeks of pregnancy, a measure that critics complain would virtually eliminate surgical abortions in the country.
He has also received an admonition from the Council of Europe’s “Equality and Non-Discrimination Committee” and the pro-abortion “human rights” group Amnesty International.
Hundreds of people reportedly marched last Sunday in Istanbul in response to the proposal, claiming that it is “misogynist” and robs women of the right to control their bodies. They held signs stating “Abortion is a right” and “It’s my body.”
According to Turkish sources, the Council of Europe’s Equality and Non-Discrimination Committee has reacted to Erdogan’s initiative by warning that that “A ban on abortions does not result in fewer abortions but only leads to clandestine abortions,” a claim that pro-life organizations say is belied by statistical evidence from countries that have prohibited abortion in the past.
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The Committee also claimed that such a law would be an attack on “sexual and reproductive health,” a term that is not considered applicable to abortion in international treaties.
“Welcoming the fact that Turkey has been the first country to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, the committee urged the Turkish authorities not to allow any setback on women’s rights, including in the area of sexual and reproductive health,” the Committee reportedly wrote.
Amnesty International, an international organization which several years ago abandoned its neutrality on abortion and began to openly lobby for the killing of the unborn as a “human right,” said that it was “profoundly worried” about Prime Minister Erdogan’s statements, and claimed that it would “put the life and health of female Turks in danger.”
Edrogan has been on the attack against abortion since May 25th, when he began to denounce it as a murderous form of population control.
“No one should have the right to authorize it. Whether you kill the baby within the womb of his mother, or kill him after his birth, there’s no difference,” said Erdogan, who also stated that the purpose of abortion is “to prevent this country’s population from growing further.”
“I see abortion as murder, and I call upon those circles and members of the media who oppose my comments: You live and breathe Uludere. I say every abortion is an Uludere,” Erdogan stated, referring to an air raid in 2011 that had led to the accidental deaths of 34 Turkish civilians.
Abortion-on-demand has been permitted in Turkey during the first ten weeks of pregnancy since it was legalized in 1983, and for medical reasons since 1965. The country’s birth rate has fallen from 3.14 per couple in 1980 to 2.11 today, according to the French Press Agency (AFP).