WOMEN’S RIGHTS

Turkish Women Protest Abortion Law

Hundreds gather Sunday.

Hundreds of women demonstrated in Istanbul on Sunday against a proposed law that they say would effectively ban abortion in Turkey. Women carrying signs that said “My body, my choice” were protesting a move by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has said abortion constitutes “murder,” to block abortions more than four weeks into a pregnancy. Abortions are currently legal in Turkey in the first 10 weeks after conception. Erdogan is known for taking stances in line with the government’s Islamic roots and on Saturday made remarks denouncing abortion at a rally. “They say it is ‘my body, my choice,’” Erdogan said. “Feminists say this. No one has the right to abort a fetus in a body.”