Voluntary termination of pregnancy has been arousing legal controversy, social polemics and less than cordial disagreements for many centuries. Criminalized, decriminalized, then recriminalized again in Romania in the past 150 years, abortion has had a long and sinuous path in our minds and legislation.
In the three decades following the Revolution, Romanian hospitals have carried out millions of abortions on demand, as a natural consequence of the lack of contraceptive methods and sex education. While, voluntary termination of pregnancy is a fundamental part of women’s right to self-determination, widespread reliance upon it as a primary means of family planning is also an indicator of the ways in which Romania succeeds (or fails) to see, approach, and understand the root causes and connections between actions and consequences.
promoted either through political, medical or religious initiatives — is not just yesterday’s story. It may very well be tomorrow’s story. Europe is the continent where the right to voluntary termination of a pregnancy is still strongly debated in many countries. In fact, Romania still has politicians who speak with conviction about the necessity of limiting abortions.
Beyond the legal framing, the concept of abortion on demand also implies a discussion about medical services, access to contraception or religious views. There aren’t many topics of public interest that afford as many intersections and bear as many meanings.
Indeed, this is a topic that is not only about the past. It’s also about the present and, arguably, the future.
The Criminal Code from 1 May 1865 (the first document of its kind in the Romanian Principalities) criminalized abortion under article 246. Prescribing reclusion (deprivation of liberty) for everyone except the pregnant woman as punishment for performing an abortion, the lawmakers included the procedure among the crimes that were to be judged in front of a court of jurors.
The same code punished women who, through “means shown or given to her towards this end”, would cause her own abortion with imprisonment lasting between 6 months and 2 years.
The Criminal Code of 1936 regulated abortion through articles 482-485 in a chapter concerning “crimes and offences against life and bodily integrity”. The Interruption of pregnancy through any means constituted the crime of abortion. Punishments varied depending on the existence of consent (or lack thereof) on the side of the woman. Moreover, punishment for a pregnant woman who caused her own abortion varied depending on the woman’s marital status. Different penalties existed for married vs. unmarried women.
The Criminal Code of 1936 established that the termination of pregnancy carried out in order to save the woman’s life, or when one of the parents suffered from insanity (thus causing the child to also suffer from mental disabilities, as was the belief at the time) was not considered abortion.
"For the Socialist Republic of Romania, with its superior social order, the existence of families with many children is a national imperative. Therefore, the conscious participation of the individual and the community in achieving this goal replaces the accidental and unconscious development of family and society."
Ministry of Health, Institute of Hygiene, 1966, brochure printed in 75,000 copies
"By starting a family, young people are obliged to look to the future with a sense of responsibility, to carefully build their own happiness and that of the Motherland."
“Naturally, a young couple must bring into the world children, fresh branches in the tree of family and country. Therefore, we want to warn them that pregnancies should not be avoided or interrupted by the brutal and traumatic means of abortion."
Ministry of Health, Institute of Hygiene, 1966, brochure printed in 75,000 copies
"It is absolutely wrong for a woman, and especially a young woman, to avoid pregnancy or to interrupt it. Avoiding pregnancy can lead to serious neurohormonal disorders and disruptions in family life. Abortion is especially harmful to the functioning of the endocrine and genital systems.”
“The healthy, married woman, protected by laws and helped by our regime, must fulfill her role of creating life.”
In 1967 there were over 527,000 live births (compared to less than 280,000 annually, in 1965 and 1966), but in the first half of the 1970s the figure had dropped below 400,000.
Although they had decreased in number, abortions had not completely disappeared. In 1972 more than 380,000 abortions were performed. However, it is true that the figure represents only a third of the total number of abortions reported in 1965.
Maternal mortality almost doubled from 1966 to 1985, with 86% of deaths caused by clandestine abortions.
The defendant O.E. – nurse, studies of 10 classes, no political record, no criminal record, married, two minor children – was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison.
The pronatalist policy of the Ceausescu regime, Corina Dobos, Luciana M. Jinga, Florin S. Soare
B.L. – married, no minor children, no criminal record – was sentenced to 3 years in prison.
The pronatalist policy of the Ceausescu regime, Corina Dobos, Luciana M. Jinga, Florin S. Soare
102 mid-level medical workers
986 persons with other occupations
202 persons without occupation
For example, between 1969 and 1972, 1,307 maternal deaths occurred in Romania as a result of abortions. Only 11 of these happened as a result of legal abortions.
"The experience of many countries, including that of the USSR, is that such a measure has not led anywhere in the world to any real or long-term increase in birth rate", wrote the Soviet daily paper Pravda in October 1966, basically picking apart – right at the top of the Communist Bloc! - the anti-abortion policies of the Bucharest regime.
A note by The Securitate, Romania’s Secret Services, from April 1980, describes the systemic disaster in Romania.
An intrahospital infection at Ploiești Maternity Hospital, between December 1979 and February 1980, resulted in the death of 37 newborns.
Another intrahospital infection at Drobeta Turnu-Severin Maternity Hospital, in January-March 1979, resulted in the illness of 56 children and the death of 10 of them.
Also in 1979, at Brăila Maternity Hospital, 40 intrahospital infections were reported in newborns, with 3 of them ending in deaths.
In January-February 1980, at the Newborn Ward in Comănești Hospital, Bacău county, an infectious episode caused the death of 6 children, out of 49 recorded cases of sickness.
In 1979, 103 intrahospital cases of sickness in newborns were recorded in the health institutions throughout Sălaj county.
The pronatalist policy of the Ceausescu regime, Corina Dobos, Luciana M. Jinga, Florin S. Soare
In Romania, too, after 1990, the prohibition of abortions was relaxed and new laws were introduced to revise the policies in place during the Communist era. The provisions of the 1966 decree were eliminated, and abortions on demand were accepted again.
Romania's post-1989 statistics on abortions returned to very large numbers. Why? Because uterine curettage remained the main method of family planning. Other methods of contraception were basically inaccessible or – against the backdrop of poor health education – unknown to the general public.
A study at the time showed that in a survey of 10,000 Romanian women, only 8% of them used contraception. Another study, conducted on the basis of questionnaires sent to 33 counties in Romania in 1990, showed a contraceptive use rate of 4.5%.
In 1990, more than 992,000 abortions were performed on demand.
In 1991, more than 866,000 abortions were performed on demand.
But no later than the second half of 2021, in parts of the globe that have nothing to do with Moscow's public communication strategy, laws have been passed restricting women's right to abortion. This happened in the American state of Texas, but also in communist China.
In 1993 abortion became illegal at the request of Pope John Paul II.
Between 2019 and 2020, there were 22 abortions in hospitals in Northern Ireland, while 1,014 women continued to travel to England for abortion under a UK-funded system.
Although abortion has been decriminalized since October 2019, Northern Ireland still has trouble providing services that allow for abortions.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Unionist Party has proposed a new law to prevent abortions in Northern Ireland in cases of non-fatal disabilities.
In 2019, according to the Ministry of Health, 6,666 abortions were performed on demand.
The proposal has not passed the vote of the Parliament. For now.
In 2019, Minister of Family Katalin Novak pronounced herself against abortion in an interview. She labelled the pro-choice movement as pro-killing and applauded the family-oriented mentality in Hungary.
In October 2020 Hungary signed the Consensual Declaration of Geneva, an anti-abortion declaration, alongside Poland and Belarus, but also USA, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Uganda, Indonezia, Brasil. The declaration has no legal value.
Where are we standing? Where are we heading?
Beyond the legal framing, the concept of abortion on demand also implies a discussion about medical services, access to contraception or religious views. There aren’t many topics of public interest that afford as many intersections and bear as many meanings.
Indeed, this is a topic that is not only about the past. It’s also about the present and, arguably, the future.
The Criminal Code from 1 May 1865 (the first document of its kind in the Romanian Principalities) criminalized abortion under article 246. Prescribing reclusion (deprivation of liberty) for everyone except the pregnant woman as punishment for performing an abortion, the lawmakers included the procedure among the crimes that were to be judged in front of a court of jurors.
The same code punished women who, through “means shown or given to her towards this end”, would cause her own abortion with imprisonment lasting between 6 months and 2 years.
Source: imagoromaniae.ro
The Criminal Code of 1936 regulated abortion through articles 482-485 in a chapter concerning “crimes and offences against life and bodily integrity”. The Interruption of pregnancy through any means constituted the crime of abortion. Punishments varied depending on the existence of consent (or lack thereof) on the side of the woman. Moreover, punishment for a pregnant woman who caused her own abortion varied depending on the woman’s marital status. Different penalties existed for married vs. unmarried women.
The Criminal Code of 1936 established that the termination of pregnancy carried out in order to save the woman’s life, or when one of the parents suffered from insanity (thus causing the child to also suffer from mental disabilities, as was the belief at the time) was not considered abortion.
Official Bulletin of the Grand National Assembly of the Romanian People's Republic
September 30, 1957
Secretary General of the Romanian Communist Party
October 1, 1966
"For the Socialist Republic of Romania, with its superior social order, the existence of families with many children is a national imperative. Therefore, the conscious participation of the individual and the community in achieving this goal replaces the accidental and unconscious development of family and society."
Ministry of Health, Institute of Hygiene, 1966, brochure printed in 75,000 copies
October 2, 1966
"By starting a family, young people are obliged to look to the future with a sense of responsibility, to carefully build their own happiness and that of the Motherland."
“Naturally, a young couple must bring into the world children, fresh branches in the tree of family and country. Therefore, we want to warn them that pregnancies should not be avoided or interrupted by the brutal and traumatic means of abortion."
Ministry of Health, Institute of Hygiene, 1966, brochure printed in 75,000 copies
October 2, 1966
"It is absolutely wrong for a woman, and especially a young woman, to avoid pregnancy or to interrupt it. Avoiding pregnancy can lead to serious neurohormonal disorders and disruptions in family life. Abortion is especially harmful to the functioning of the endocrine and genital systems.”
“The healthy, married woman, protected by laws and helped by our regime, must fulfill her role of creating life.”
Director of Filantropia Maternity Hospital
In 1967 there were over 527,000 live births (compared to less than 280,000 annually, in 1965 and 1966), but in the first half of the 1970s the figure had dropped below 400,000.
Although they had decreased in number, abortions had not completely disappeared. In 1972 more than 380,000 abortions were performed. However, it is true that the figure represents only a third of the total number of abortions reported in 1965.
Maternal mortality almost doubled from 1966 to 1985, with 86% of deaths caused by clandestine abortions.
Other legal provisions meant to tighten the legal regime were introduced in 1984. These too led to an insignificant increase in birth rate, way below the numbers desired by the regime.
The defendant O.E. – nurse, studies of 10 classes, no political record, no criminal record, married, two minor children – was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison.
The pronatalist policy of the Ceausescu regime, Corina Dobos, Luciana M. Jinga, Florin S. Soare
B.L. – married, no minor children, no criminal record – was sentenced to 3 years in prison.
The pronatalist policy of the Ceausescu regime, Corina Dobos, Luciana M. Jinga, Florin S. Soare
102 mid-level medical workers
986 persons with other occupations
202 persons without occupation
For example, between 1969 and 1972, 1,307 maternal deaths occurred in Romania as a result of abortions. Only 11 of these happened as a result of legal abortions.
"The experience of many countries, including that of the USSR, is that such a measure has not led anywhere in the world to any real or long-term increase in birth rate", wrote the Soviet daily paper Pravda in October 1966, basically picking apart – right at the top of the Communist Bloc! - the anti-abortion policies of the Bucharest regime.
A note by The Securitate, Romania’s Secret Services, from April 1980, describes the systemic disaster in Romania.
An intrahospital infection at Ploiești Maternity Hospital, between December 1979 and February 1980, resulted in the death of 37 newborns.
Another intrahospital infection at Drobeta Turnu-Severin Maternity Hospital, in January-March 1979, resulted in the illness of 56 children and the death of 10 of them.
Also in 1979, at Brăila Maternity Hospital, 40 intrahospital infections were reported in newborns, with 3 of them ending in deaths.
In January-February 1980, at the Newborn Ward in Comănești Hospital, Bacău county, an infectious episode caused the death of 6 children, out of 49 recorded cases of sickness.
In 1979, 103 intrahospital cases of sickness in newborns were recorded in the health institutions throughout Sălaj county.
The pronatalist policy of the Ceausescu regime, Corina Dobos, Luciana M. Jinga, Florin S. Soare
In Romania, too, after 1990, the prohibition of abortions was relaxed and new laws were introduced to revise the policies in place during the Communist era. The provisions of the 1966 decree were eliminated, and abortions on demand were accepted again.
Romania's post-1989 statistics on abortions returned to very large numbers. Why? Because uterine curettage remained the main method of family planning. Other methods of contraception were basically inaccessible or – against the backdrop of poor health education – unknown to the general public.
A study at the time showed that in a survey of 10,000 Romanian women, only 8% of them used contraception. Another study, conducted on the basis of questionnaires sent to 33 counties in Romania in 1990, showed a contraceptive use rate of 4.5%.
In 1990, more than 992,000 abortions were performed on demand.
In 1991, more than 866,000 abortions were performed on demand.
But no later than the second half of 2021, in parts of the globe that have nothing to do with Moscow's public communication strategy, laws have been passed restricting women's right to abortion. This happened in the American state of Texas, but also in communist China.
In 1993 abortion became illegal at the request of Pope John Paul II.
Between 2019 and 2020, there were 22 abortions in hospitals in Northern Ireland, while 1,014 women continued to travel to England for abortion under a UK-funded system.
Although abortion has been decriminalized since October 2019, Northern Ireland still has trouble providing services that allow for abortions.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Unionist Party has proposed a new law to prevent abortions in Northern Ireland in cases of non-fatal disabilities.
In 2019, according to the Ministry of Health, 6,666 abortions were performed on demand.
The proposal has not passed the vote of the Parliament. For now.
In 2019, Minister of Family Katalin Novak pronounced herself against abortion in an interview. She labelled the pro-choice movement as pro-killing and applauded the family-oriented mentality in Hungary.
In October 2020 Hungary signed the Consensual Declaration of Geneva, an anti-abortion declaration, alongside Poland and Belarus, but also USA, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Uganda, Indonezia, Brasil. The declaration has no legal value.
