Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz plans to introduce a series of reforms to change Israel's policies on abortion, making the experience easier for those seeking one.
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According to Dina Shalev, director of reproductive rights organization Lada'at – Choose Well, "Today, if a woman in Israel wants to have an abortion, she needs to appear in front of a committee and get their approval for the procedure." In order to be approved, "She needs to fall under one of four categories."
The first category, age, considers whether the candidate is under 18 or over 40 years old, and the second category looks at her marital status.
The third category examines the mother's health, like whether "the pregnancy can cause… serious health damage," and the fourth category looks at the fetus' health.
"If she doesn't fall under one of these categories, she can't have an abortion in Israel," Shalev explained.
She also said that although, "we're thrilled about this step," only the policies surrounding the approval board will be changed, not the process itself.
The questions asked by the committee could be altered to be "less offensive," and forms could be digitized.
"It's not changing the law, so women will still have to go through the committee, they'll still need the approval," but the small changes might make the experiences of women seeking the procedure easier, she said.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
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