Albanian women have found themselves unable to access abortion services and some have resorted to DIY measures, according to an investigation.
Operators of private clinics have been forced to close due to lockdown measures, patients fear of COVID-19 and harsh restrictions have been imposed on movement. While consultations can take place online, the provision of emergency contraception and reproductive health measures are unable to be performed.
Bruna Hylviu, Executive Director of the Albania Center of Population and Development said she fears an increase in unsafe abortions. Her group runs mobile clinics that are often the only way migrant women, women from minorities, and women living in rural areas are able to access abortion. While measures are easing, she said these clinics are still not operating.
A doctor of obstetrics and gynaecology at a hospital in Tirana, Mirela Rista said that these services are almost impossible to access in the city. During the first six weeks of lockdown, Rista said most surgical abortions were postponed, as were contraceptive consultations. Since then, most gynaecological services in private clinics and public institutions have closed leaving women with few options.
One woman, who spoke to Exit on the condition of anonymity, said she discovered she was seven weeks pregnant at the beginning of April.
“I have lost my job and am not in a relationship with the father. How can I have a child?”
She contacted the state hospital and was told she could not come for an appointment. Through a friend she was able to get a medical abortion- two pills, mifepristone and misoprostol- although they are not legalised in Albania. The woman took the pills at home with no medical supervision.
Another woman who, despite taking contraception, found out she was eight weeks pregnant, was forced to order the pills online. Unable to get an appointment and unsure of where to ask for help, she contacted an NGO that supplies the pills to women in countries where they struggle to get access to medical abortion.
A woman from the Roma community in Shkoza, Tirana told openDemocracy that when she tried to contact clinics, she was told they were closed and could not do anything
This has led to some women taking matters into their own hands. One woman told Transitions that she resorted to a “traditional way” to end her pregnancy. She drank a concoction of ingredients including some that endangered her life.
Women in Albania have had the right to safe, legal abortion on request since 1995.
