Decree 770: Abortion Outlawed in Communist Romania

Monday, January 25, 2010

Decree 770: Abortion Outlawed in Communist Romania

(Part 1 of 2)

In 1966, Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu issued Decree 770, outlawing abortion and the use of contraceptives in an effort to reverse the country’s very low birth rate.

There were exceptions to the anti-abortion law. An abortion could be obtained if: (1) a woman’s life was in danger, the woman suffered from serious physical, psychological or sensory problems, or if one of the parents suffered from a grave hereditary disease; (2) the woman was over the age of 45; (3) the mother had already given birth to at least 4 children and still had them in her care; (4) the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest.

Celibacy was not an option for many Romanians, as anyone still childless over the age of 25 was required to pay a “celibacy tax,” a heavy burden for a population living in poverty. Even those who were unmarried or unable to conceive had to pay the tax. Condoms and other methods of contraception were smuggled into the country and sold for more than most Romanians could afford. Additionally, sex education was forbidden and books about reproduction and contraception were deemed “state secrets” only to be used for medical training.

From 1966 until Ceausescu’s overthrow in the 1989 revolution, the fertility of Romanian women was under the constant surveillance of state officials. Women under the age of 40 were taken from their place of work every 1-3 months and subjected to mandatory medical exams to determine if they were pregnant at the earliest stage possible. These exams were often done in the presence of government officials, nicknamed the “menstrual police” by some Romanians. If a woman failed to conceive, she would be subjected to questioning by government officials. Miscarriages were looked upon with suspicion, despite the fact that they were commonplace due to the overwhelming rates of malnutrition in the impoverished country.

Women turned to having illegal abortions as a means of avoiding having more children that they could not afford to raise. Because of the dangerous methods of these back-alley abortions, the maternal mortality rate skyrocketed. In 1989, the recorded number of women that died during pregnancy or childbirth was 169, 10 times higher than the recorded number of any other European country. 89% of those deaths were abortion-related.

Even more shocking is the fact that these are only the recorded numbers. Under Decree 770, women were given prison sentences if convicted of having an illegal abortion. If a woman went to the hospital to seek help after suffering complications from an illegal abortion, they were refused treatment until they betrayed the name of the person that performed the procedure. Out of fear of punishment, many women did not seek medical attention until it was too late. These deaths remain uncounted, so the total number of women killed in the 23 years abortion was illegal in Romania will never be known.

What is known is that illegal abortion was the predominant cause of death among women of child-bearing age, the tragic result of a law meant to increase the population. From 1966 to 1989, the official death toll was reported to be 9,452. Again, this figure does not include the women that did not seek medical care.

See Part 2.

Sources:

A Cautionary Tale: Revisiting Ceausescu’s Anti-Abortion Policies, a public lecture by Gail Kligman, Professor of Sociology at UCLA

Ceausescu terrorized Romanian women by Michaela Wrong for The Deseret News, January 1, 1990

Overplanned parenthood: Ceausescu’s cruel law by Karen Breslau for Newsweek, January 22, 1990