Women's perspectives on abortion in Romania

Social Science and Medicine

Volumn 42, Issue 4, 1996, Pages 521-530

  Johnson, Brooke R ^a   Horga, Mihai ^b   Andronache, Laurentia ^c  

^a IPAS   (United States)

^b Inst of Pub Hlth and Med Res   (Romania)

^c Municipal Hospital   (Romania)

Author keywords

Abortion; Contraception; Family planning; Romania; Women's health

Indexed keywords

ABORTION; ARTICLE; ATTITUDE; DECISION MAKING; FAMILY PLANNING; FEMALE; GOVERNMENT; GYNECOLOGY; HISTORY; HUMAN; INDUCED ABORTION; INTERVIEW; NORMAL HUMAN; PHYSICIAN ATTITUDE; ROMANIA;

ABORTION, CRIMINAL; ABORTION, LEGAL; ATTITUDE OF HEALTH PERSONNEL; CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON; FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES; FEMALE; GENDER IDENTITY; HEALTH KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, PRACTICE; HUMANS; INFANT, NEWBORN; PREGNANCY; ROMANIA; WOMEN'S RIGHTS;

EID: 0030071797     PISSN: 02779536     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/0277-9536(95)00175-1     Document Type: Article

References (29)

1. Johnson B. R. et al. Contraception and abortion in Romania. Lancet 341, 875, 1993.
2. David H. P. and McIntyre R. J. Reproductive Behavior: Central and Eastern European Experience. Springer, New York, 1981.
3. Legge J. S. Abortion Policy: An Evaluation of the Consequences for Maternal and Infant Health. State University of New York Press, Albany, 1985.
4. Mehlan K. H. Legal abortions in Romania. J. Sex Res. 1, 31, 1965.
5. Decree 770 was modified in 1985 (Decree 411) increasing the number of children borne and raised by a woman to 5 and increasing the minimum age for legal abortion from 40 to 45 years.
6. David H. P. and Wright N. H. Abortion legislation: the Romanian experience. Stud. Family Plann. 2, 205, 1971.
7. Kligman G. The politics of reproduction in Ceauşescu's Romania: a case study in political culture. East Eur. Polit. Soc. 6, 364, 1992.
8. For additional reading about the politics of reproduction in Ceauşescu's Romania see: Ginsburg F. and Rapp R. The politics of reproduction. A. Rev. Anthropol. 20, 311, 1991; Kligman G. Women and reproductive legislation in Romania: implications for the transition. In Dilemmas of Transition in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe (Edited by Breslauer G.), pp. 141-166, Berkeley, 1991; Trebici V. Demografie între ştiinţa şi acţiune socialǎ. Viitorul Soc. 81, 69, January-February 1988.
9. For additional reading about the politics of reproduction in Ceauşescu's Romania see: Ginsburg F. and Rapp R. The politics of reproduction. A. Rev. Anthropol. 20, 311, 1991; Kligman G. Women and reproductive legislation in Romania: implications for the transition. In Dilemmas of Transition in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe (Edited by Breslauer G.), pp. 141-166, Berkeley, 1991; Trebici V. Demografie între ştiinţa şi acţiune socialǎ. Viitorul Soc. 81, 69, January-February 1988.
10. For additional reading about the politics of reproduction in Ceauşescu's Romania see: Ginsburg F. and Rapp R. The politics of reproduction. A. Rev. Anthropol. 20, 311, 1991; Kligman G. Women and reproductive legislation in Romania: implications for the transition. In Dilemmas of Transition in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe (Edited by Breslauer G.), pp. 141-166, Berkeley, 1991; Trebici V. Demografie între ştiinţa şi acţiune socialǎ. Viitorul Soc. 81, 69, January-February 1988.
11. According to Legge [3], prior to 1969, abortion deaths were classified as the result of 'sepsis' or 'other causes'. After 1969, maternal deaths were classified as the result of 'legal' or 'illegal' abortion.
12. United States Agency for International Development. Women's Health, Family Planning, and Institutionalized Children in Romania. Trust Through Health, Inc., 1991.
13. Romanian Ministry of Health data, 1992.
14. Clandestine (referred to in Romania as 'illegal') abortions, that is, abortions performed outside of public hospitals by unqualified providers, continue to occur despite the availability of legal pregnancy termination upon request; however, these procedures constitute a relatively small proportion of all abortions today.
15. Europa Publications Limited. The Europa World Yearbook 1992 Volume II. Staples Printers Rochester Limited, London, 1992.
16. Europa Publications Limited. The Europa World Yearbook 1993 Volume II. Staples Printers Rochester Limited, London, 1993.
17. All maternal deaths were registered by the police and thus were extremely accurate compared to other records, such as infant mortality.
18. David H. P and Wright N. H. Rerestricting abortion: the Romanian experience. In Abortion Research: International Experience (Edited by David H. P.), pp. 217 226. Lexington Books, Lexington, MA, 1974.
19. Stephenson P. et al. Commentary: the public health consequences of restricted induced abortion -lessons from Romania. Am. J. Publ. Hlth 82, 1328, 1992.
20. Centers for Disease Control and Institute for Maternal and Child Care, Romania Ministry of Health. Report of Romania National Nutrition Survey, 1991.
21. Hord C. et al. Reproductive health in Romania: reversing the Ceauşescu legacy. Stud Family Plann. 22, 231, 1991.
22. World Health Organization. Report on a mission to Romania. 29 December 1989-15 January 1990.
23. 43% of the women interviewed in the urban site in Transylvania were Hungarian compared to none in Moldova and 0.5% in Bucharest.
24. Raffel N. K. and Raffel M. W. The health system of Hungary. In Health Care Systems and Their Patients: An International Perspective (Edited by Rosenthal M. M. and Frenkel M.), pp. 273-286. Westview Press, Boulder, CO, 1992.
25. Albrecht G. L. and Warren J. Soviet health care in the glasnost era. In Health Care Systems and Their Patients: An International Perspective (Edited by Rosenthal M. M. and Frenkel M.), pp. 247-266. Westview Press, Boulder, CO, 1992.
26. Interestingly, the cost of abortion in 1965 was 30 lei (approximately US$2.50) and remained so until the leu was devalued following the end of the Ceauşescu government.
27. As of November 1993 there were approximately 1050-1100 lei to US$1.
28. Locally-made condoms and spermicides were available throughout the time of the Ceauşescu government; however, men complained about the thickness of the condoms (they were too thick) and women complained about vaginal irritation that resulted from the locally-synthesized spermicides.
29. Since the writing of this article, the Ministry of Health has built a national family-planning programme with financial support from the World Bank. This programme now covers all major cities and consists of more than 300 family-planning clinics nationwide staffed with specialized general practitioners, obstetrician-gynaecologists and nurses. The Ministry has imported large quantities of contraceptives for this programme.