Abortion under Ceausescu

·      1957—abortion legalized, became available cheaply and easily. 

·      Romanian women in the middle twentieth century, with cramped quarters, a poor diet, and a declining standard of living knew that they couldn’t support large families. 

·      Birth control pills and intrauterine devices had never been allowed in the country, and other modern means of contraception were basically unavailable. 

·      On average, Romanian women were having less than two children apiece.  The women were maintaining their low birth rate with the only option open to them, abortion.

·       In 1966 in Romania there were four abortions for every live birth.

·       1966—Ceausescu passed decree 770 banning abortion and contraception in Romania, with the intent of creating a larger communist workforce. 

·       Rare exceptions:  if you were a mother of 4 over the age of 45—in 1989 the number of children was raised to 5—you could receive an abortion & birth control.  There were also loopholes if you were a member of the Communist Party with the appropriate connections.  Mothers of at least 10 children were declared heroine mothers of the state and received government benefits.   

·       Women were carefully monitored, with random pregnancy testing in the workplace.  If a woman went too long without getting pregnant, she was subject to interrogation by the secret police.  If a woman did become pregnant, the surveillance became even more intense, with follow ups to make sure the women kept the pregnancy through birth.    

·       Women who didn’t bear children were also subject to an outrageous celibacy tax, whether married or not, or physically capable of even having children!         

·      Women who obtained an illegal abortion, as well as the persons performing it, were subject to fines and imprisonment.

·      Illegal abortions cost from two to four months' wages

·      Romania’s birthrate almost doubled, but poor nutrition and prenatal care further endangered pregnant women and children.  Illegal abortions maimed and killed many women, and the infant mortality rate soared to over 8 times that of the Western European average.  ~10% of babies were born underweight, with newborns weighing 3 lbs 5 oz being classified as miscarriages and denied treatments. 

·      Child abandonment also skyrocketed, with orphanage populations growing

“The fetus is the property of the entire society, anyone who avoids having children is a deserter who abandons the laws of national continuity.”

                                    - Ceausescu

“The law only forbade abortion, it did nothing to promote life.”

                                    - Dr. Alexander Floran Anca of Bucharest

“I would have killed Ceausescu for that law alone…We had to buy milk on the black market, and we had to buy a heater just for the baby's room…Now that it's possible for a woman to be a woman again I'm mutilated.  And now there is a reason to have a child in this country.”

- 29 year old mother of two, Maria Dulce from her bed at Bucharest's Municipal Hospital recovering from a self-induced abortion.  Dulce says she terminated her pregnancy because of the trauma associated with caring for her second child, an 18-month-old boy. She had to have an emergency hysterectomy only days before the uprising.