ABORTION IN THE LEGAL SYSTEM OF THE USSR FROM 1920 TO 1991

LEGALIZATION AND CRIMINALIZATION

Abstract

The USSR model is an example of dual legal regulation of abortion, suitable for studying the effects and consequences of both legalization and criminalization of abortion. Abortion was legalized by the government of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in 1920, after the October Revolution. The legalization was part of the efforts to solve the “woman question” and achieve gender equality. But, the
Soviet society of the time, riddled with numerous problems, including famine, could not muster enough political will or economic power to solve it. Illegal abortions continued to be performed by “babki”, especially in the provincial parts of the country, far from large medical institutions found only in larger cities. Still, there was a reduction in maternal mortality. Policies to increase the birth rate were adopted
under Stalin’s rule with a view to supporting industrialisation, and these included a prohibition of abortion in 1936. Punishment was envisaged both for those who performed abortions and for women who had them, who were under dual pressure – as mothers and as “rabotnitse”. However, for various reasons the recriminalization failed to yield the expected results. There were far fewer prosecutions for performing
abortions than expected, and women tended to be punished for having abortions far more frequently than those who performed them for financial gain. Unfortunately, a series of measures the state undertook to boost the birth rate, such as child benefits and free children’s camps, failed to produce the desired effects. The number of illegal abortions remained high, despite a slight drop that occurred immediately after the prohibition was imposed. The illegal abortions performed in unsanitary conditions by non-professionals led to a high maternal mortality rate and had severe consequences for the women’s health. The criminalization failed to positively affect the birth rate, while the actual negative statistics resulting from the illegal abortions performed
unprofessionally and in unsanitary conditions will probably never be known as any negative effects of this political decision were covered up. This practice continued until Stalin’s death, following which abortion was once again decriminalized in 1955. This regulation of abortion, with some restrictions, remained in force until the disintegration of the USSR.