“Serious Personal, Family or Material Circumstances“: Social Grounds for Abortion and the Introduction of a Social Indication in Legislation in Slovenia Cover Image

»Hude osebne, družinske ali gmotne razmere«: socialni razlogi za splav in uvedba socialne indikacije v slovensko zakonodajo
“Serious Personal, Family or Material Circumstances“: Social Grounds for Abortion and the Introduction of a Social Indication in Legislation in Slovenia

Author(s): Sara Pistotnik
Subject(s): Gender Studies, History of Law, Civil Law, Health and medicine and law, Family and social welfare, Post-War period (1950 - 1989), Labour and Social Security Law
Published by: Slovensko sociološko društvo (in FDV)
Keywords: abortion; social indication; commissions for granting abortion; social work; socialism;

Summary/Abstract: In the article, I discuss the expansion of access to abortion in Slovenia since the1960s, in particular the introduction of social indications as a separate category of legally accepted reasons for it. I describe legal regulations, the role of social workers in Commissions granting abortion, and the practice of decision-making with regard to social reasons, i.e., which individual, family and social circumstances were considered legitimate to grant an abortion. Since such requests became dominant immediately after the introduction of social indications, the practice of decision-making can help us acknowledge social norms during socialism. In particular, this refers to a shift from understanding abortion as a medical problem to understanding social circumstances leading women to seek it and a change in the state’s focus towards creating the conditions for family planning policies.

  • Issue Year: 38/2022
  • Issue No: 101
  • Page Range: 139-161
  • Page Count: 23
  • Language: Slovenian