Judgment, 25 February 1986

The plaintiff, despite using contraceptives, became pregnant. She sought social insurance reimbursement for the costs of an abortion, which she had undergone because she did not want to have a child. The Court upheld the decision of a lower court denying reimbursement. It ruled that pregnancy is not an illness, unless the pregnancy presents for the woman a danger to life or health beyond that involved in normal pregnancies. It reasoned that since the pregnancy presented no such danger and the abortion had not been performed in order to protect the life or health of the plaintiff, the costs of the abortion were not eligible for reimbursement through social insurance, which by law could be used only to cover costs related to illness.