Iranian Health Officials Report “Catastrophic” Rise in Illegal Abortions

Officials at Iran’s Ministry of Health have raised concerns over a “catastrophic” rise in the number of illegal abortions performed outside medical facilities. 

Suleiman Heydari, the director-general of the ministry's Medical Monitoring and Accreditation Center, said on April 17 that “over 70 to 80 percent of illegal and non-medical abortions are performed outside medical centers,” according to the semi-official ISNA news agency.

Heydari said that most illegal abortions were performed using “bleeding pills at home” and that “websites” were selling these products.

The official said that around 10,000 legal abortions are performed annually in Iran for medical reasons.

He did not disclose the estimated number of illegal abortions, but a health official said that the statistics were "catastrophic."

Saleh Ghasemi, the secretary of the Center for Strategic Studies of Iran's Population, previously stated that 95 percent of all abortions in the country are "illegal" and carried out outside the country's health network.

The Islamic Republic passed the “Youthful of Population and Protection of the Family” law in 2021 aimed to restrict abortion and contraception and boost the fertility rate. The legislation received criticism from doctors as well as women's and children's rights activists.

Under the law, abortions must be approved by a council comprising two jurists, a judge and several doctors. Doctors who perform illegal abortions face the risk of having their licenses revoked.

In his interview with ISNA on April 17, Heydari said that all pregnancy cases are registered in the recently launched National System of Healthy Fertility in a bid to fight against illegal abortions.

During a meeting with staff of the National Population Headquarters on April 8, President Ebrahim Raisi asked the Ministry of Health to address the matter and cooperate with the judiciary to “deal with offenders.”

In March, a group of rights activists presented a “Women’s Rights Bill” calling for preserving women’s “right to abortion," among other things, amid growing concerns regarding the health and safety of women who resort to illegal abortions.