New Study On Post-War Romanian Abortion Policy Demonstrates That Restrictions Result In Maternal Mor
A unique study published in today's edition of the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care1, provides new evidence about the causal links between restrictions to abortion policy and maternal mortality. The study demonstrates that limiting abortion does not prevent women from seeking pregnancy terminations but simply increases the risks they face.
The study reveals women's fertility rate and abortion rates before, during and after the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu outlawed abortion in 1966 until his death in 1989. Prior to Nicolae Ceausescu's rise to power, access to surgical abortions had been easily available under the Soviet regime. Within days of the dictator's fall, the anti-abortion law was abolished and abortion was made available again on request.
The report's authors point out that the country's dramatic shifts in family planning policy offer a rare opportunity to study causal links between access to contraception and abortion and changes in reproductive outcomes. The two causal links that authors were able to surmise provide important lessons for all policy makers today:
"Countries that increasingly seek to restrict access to abortion and contraception should look and learn from Romania's example... All legislators in Britain and elsewhere who really care about women's safety - and, indeed, women's lives - need to pay attention to these findings,"
Key findings from the study reveal:
Ann Furedi, Chief Executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (bpas) said: 'When women cannot obtain abortion legally in their own country, they either travel to countries where they can, or they risk their health by resorting to unlawful means at home.'
Kate Guthrie, spokesperson for the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare said: "This study starkly demonstrates the risks, often with fatal consequences, that women will take to avoid unwanted pregnancy. Equally it shows the dramatic impact that easy access to contraception had on abortion."
Source
Source of Ceausescu's quote and further information on his policies regarding abortion and the consequences for their victims
Mod, I know that I've already submitted two posts to the community in the past 24 to 36 hours, however, the information above is very relevant to the other two posts, and I am trying to make it as widely available as possible. I hope you won't view this as spam. In case that you do I sincerely apologize.
I am not a Romanian, I am a Bulgarian. Up until 1990 abortion in my country was banned as well, with very few exceptions, so we shared in small part the suffering of our Romanian sisters. Their situation, however, was much, much worse: huge maternal mortality rates, 100,000 children abandoned in institutions where they were were sexually and physically abused, suffered from wide-spread HIV and syphilis infections, were barely educated and lived in absolute poverty, women in child-bearing age routinely rounded up from their workplaces every 1-3 months and forcefully examined by doctors in the presence of state officials to determine whether they are pregnant, then called to the police and abused and questioned for hours in case they miscarried, women sent to labour camps for having an abortion, single women and infertile women being additionally taxed for not having children, etc.etc. the horror stories never end. This is a cautionary tale that I, personally, believe must never be forgotten.
The study reveals women's fertility rate and abortion rates before, during and after the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu outlawed abortion in 1966 until his death in 1989. Prior to Nicolae Ceausescu's rise to power, access to surgical abortions had been easily available under the Soviet regime. Within days of the dictator's fall, the anti-abortion law was abolished and abortion was made available again on request.
The report's authors point out that the country's dramatic shifts in family planning policy offer a rare opportunity to study causal links between access to contraception and abortion and changes in reproductive outcomes. The two causal links that authors were able to surmise provide important lessons for all policy makers today:
- Restricting access to safe abortion in Romania caused a dramatic increase in maternal mortality driven solely by unsafe abortion-related death
- Increased access to modern contraception in Romania has not reduced fertility, but instead has reduced the need for women to resort to abortion
"Countries that increasingly seek to restrict access to abortion and contraception should look and learn from Romania's example... All legislators in Britain and elsewhere who really care about women's safety - and, indeed, women's lives - need to pay attention to these findings,"
Key findings from the study reveal:
- Nicolae Ceausescu outlawed abortion in order to increase Romania's fertility rate. However, after nearly doubling initially, it soon fell back to the level before abortion was outlawed as women gradually found solutions for regulating their fertility either through contraceptives procured illegally or through illegal abortions
- For the 30 years abortion was outlawed, maternal mortality from unsafe abortion rocketed to an incredible 147 per 100 000 live births (see graph below and attached) before falling rapidly following the fall of Ceausescu's regime to 5.2 per 100 000 live births in 2010
Ann Furedi, Chief Executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (bpas) said: 'When women cannot obtain abortion legally in their own country, they either travel to countries where they can, or they risk their health by resorting to unlawful means at home.'
Kate Guthrie, spokesperson for the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare said: "This study starkly demonstrates the risks, often with fatal consequences, that women will take to avoid unwanted pregnancy. Equally it shows the dramatic impact that easy access to contraception had on abortion."
Source
Source of Ceausescu's quote and further information on his policies regarding abortion and the consequences for their victims
Mod, I know that I've already submitted two posts to the community in the past 24 to 36 hours, however, the information above is very relevant to the other two posts, and I am trying to make it as widely available as possible. I hope you won't view this as spam. In case that you do I sincerely apologize.
I am not a Romanian, I am a Bulgarian. Up until 1990 abortion in my country was banned as well, with very few exceptions, so we shared in small part the suffering of our Romanian sisters. Their situation, however, was much, much worse: huge maternal mortality rates, 100,000 children abandoned in institutions where they were were sexually and physically abused, suffered from wide-spread HIV and syphilis infections, were barely educated and lived in absolute poverty, women in child-bearing age routinely rounded up from their workplaces every 1-3 months and forcefully examined by doctors in the presence of state officials to determine whether they are pregnant, then called to the police and abused and questioned for hours in case they miscarried, women sent to labour camps for having an abortion, single women and infertile women being additionally taxed for not having children, etc.etc. the horror stories never end. This is a cautionary tale that I, personally, believe must never be forgotten.