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Abortion under communism

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Communist and Marxist ideologies generally allow state-provided abortions, although there is no consensus among Communist parties or governments as to how far into the pregnancy abortion should be allowed.

Communist countries

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People's Republic of China

[edit]
Main article: Abortion in China

Abortion in China is generally legal and accessible.[1][2][3] Abortions are widely accepted socially and are available to all women through China's family planning programme, public hospitals, private hospitals, and clinics nationwide.[4] During China's one-child policy, women were subjected to forced abortions and many were subjected to forced sterilization on the orders of officials in some places.[5][6]

To reduce the high number of sex-selective abortions, the Chinese government banned prenatal sex discernment.[7]

In 2021, China's State Council as well as the non-governmental organization responsible for family planning announced policy guidelines with the goal of reducing non-medically necessary abortions, including by increasing women's access to pre-pregnancy healthcare services.[8]

Cuba

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Main article: Healthcare in Cuba

The Cuban government decriminalized abortion in 1965.[9] Women have free access to abortion in Cuba, making it a "regional front-runner in women's rights," according to Reuters journalist Nelson Acosta.[10] Late-term abortions require a formal evaluation that is conducted by a committee of gynecologists and a psychologist.[9]

North Korea

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Main article: Health in North Korea

The Penal Code from 1950 states that abortion is allowed for "important reasons" up to the seventh week of pregnancy, but that anyone who performs an abortion for no important reason is subject to up to three years' imprisonment. Broad interpretation of the phrase "important reasons" meant that abortion was available virtually upon request, and, reportedly, abortion services could be provided free of charge at provincial hospitals.[11]

As of the UN's 2017 World Population Policies report, abortion is available in North Korea for all reasons, including upon request, and without gestational limits.[12]

Vietnam

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Main article: Healthcare in Vietnam

The Law of Protection of People's Health, passed in 1989, states that: "Women have the right to have an abortion, to receive gynecological diagnosis and treatment, health check-up during pregnancy, and medical service when giving birth at health facilities."[13]

Vietnam has also adopted policies to ban and prevent sex-selective abortions, among other countries such as Nepal.[14][15]

Laos

[edit]
Main article: Laos § Healthcare

In Laos, abortion is only allowed in order to save the life of the mother.[16]

Western Communist parties

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In the Western world, a variety of communist and socialist parties support abortion on request.

Brazil

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Main article: Abortion in Brazil

Canada

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Main article: Abortion in Canada

United States

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Main article: Abortion in the United States

Former Communist countries

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Many historical Communist countries, primarily in Europe, allowed abortion on request or due to socioeconomic factors. The Soviet Union under Stalin and Romania under Ceaușescu, however, took action to further limit abortions, and other Communist countries retained prohibitive laws against them.

Afghanistan

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See also: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

The criminal code from 7 October 1976 only allowed abortion to save the mother's life. The socialist government never changed this law.[21]

Albania

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See also: Communist Albania

During Enver Hoxha's rule, abortion was only legally allowed to save mother's life,[22] but in practice could be obtained for any reason. The punishment for a woman who had an abortion was social reprimand by re-education through work. By 1989, abortion was officially legalized in cases of rape, incest, and for women under 16 years old, among other reasons.[23]

Angola

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See also: Communist Angola

Abortion remained prohibited in Angola, and was only allowed in order to save the mother's life.[24]

Benin

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See also: People's Republic of Benin

The civil code from 8 February 1973 only allowed abortion to save the mother's life, which the socialist government never changed.[25]

Bulgaria

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See also: People's Republic of Bulgaria

Abortion was legalized on April 27, 1956. It was only allowed once every 6 months, and no later than the 12th week of pregnancy, except for medical reasons. To increase the birth rate, the government restricted abortion for certain women in February 1968 by the Decree 188, which discouraged childless women and women with one or two children from having an abortion (although they could possibly have the procedure if they persisted). Only women with three or more children, or women over 45 years ago, had the right to an abortion on request. The time ceiling was also lowered to 10 weeks.[26] In April 1973, women with just one child lost the right to abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, medical emergency, if the woman was an unmarried person under the age of 18, with no living children, or if she was over 45 years, old with a living child. By 1974, unmarried women were allowed to get an abortion.[27]

Czechoslovakia

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See also: Czechoslovak Socialist Republic

An abortion law passed in 1957 allowed termination for, both medical (forming 10% of the cases) and other reasons (the remaining 90%).[28] The law was changed after 1957.[clarification needed] The birth ratio decreased, falling below number of abortions.[29]

East Germany

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Main article: East Germany

In East Germany, women under 16 years of age, women over 40, and mothers with at least four children were given the right to abortion after applying to a state commission. Abortion was fully legalized by parliament in 1972.[30]

Ethiopia

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See also: People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

Abortion was only allowed to “save the pregnant woman from the grave and permanent danger to life or health that is impossible to avert in any other way”. Although the code does not accept broad health, judicial or socio-economic grounds, and doesn't specify whether a threat to health includes both physical and mental health, it does consider a “grave state of physical or mental distress, especially following rape or incest, or because of extreme poverty” a mitigating circumstance in sentencing.[citation needed]

Grenada

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See also: People's Revolutionary Government (Grenada)

There is no information about the abortion status under the short-lived Grenada socialist government. The current legislation allows abortion to preserve the mother's health.[31]

Hungary

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See also: Hungarian People's Republic

Prior to 1953, abortion was only allowed to save the mother's life. In 1953 and 1956, the laws legalized abortion until 12 weeks of pregnancy, in cases of socioeconomic factors. In 1973, although abortion was still allowed for social reasons, the list of other acceptable reasons was reduced.[32]

Madagascar

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See also: Democratic Republic of Madagascar

Abortion was prohibited in Madagascar and only allowed to save the mother's life.[citation needed]

Mongolia

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See also: Mongolian People's Republic

Induced abortion in socialist Mongolia was allowed since 1940 to preserve the mother's health, officially recorded in the penal code on July 6, 1960.[33] In 1986, the amendment authorized medical authorities to decide when to perform an abortion, and abortion was fully legalized in 1989.[34]

Mozambique

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See also: People's Republic of Mozambique

Before 1981, abortion was only allowed to save the mother's life. In 1981, abortion was allowed in case of contraceptive failure. Since then, the law has been interpreted very liberally in some hospitals, leading them to accept women who sign a written statement requesting the abortion.[35]

People's Republic of the Congo

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See also: People's Republic of the Congo

Abortion was prohibited, but the general principles of criminal law allowed abortions on grounds of medical necessity, with reports suggesting they were also permitted for less immediately dangerous complications.[citation needed]

Poland

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See also: Polish People's Republic

Debates surrounding abortion started around 1929 in Poland. By 1932, abortion was considered legal if the pregnancy was a result of a crime where a woman's health was at risk.[36] Despite the protests of the Catholic Church, abortion in Poland was allowed on social grounds in 1956 by the Communist government. Subsequently, it was fully allowed in 1959 to protect the life and morality of women that had unsafe abortions. The abortions were provided by public hospitals.[36]

Romania

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See also: Socialist Republic of Romania

Before 1966, Romania had the most progressive laws of abortion in Europe. However, after the rise of power of Nicolae Ceaușescu, Decree 770 only allowed abortion to save the life of the mother. It was also allowed for women over 45 years old or with four or more children. (In 1974, the age was lowered to 40; in 1986, it was raised again to 45.) The goal of the ban was a larger population that could drive a larger workforce and consumer-led growth, in order to achieve economic independence from the Soviet Union.[37] Over the span of these 23 years, more than 2 million unwanted children, were born and at least 10,000 women died as a result. The 770 Decree was one of the first laws to be repealed right after Ceaușescu's trial and execution on 25 December 1989; more than 1 million abortions were performed the year after, more than three times the number of children born that year.[38]

Somalia

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See also: Somali Democratic Republic

Since December 16, 1962, abortion was prohibited. The socialist regime never changed the law, but the criminal law's general principles of necessity allowed for an abortion to save the mother's life.[25]

Soviet Union

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Main article: Abortion in Russia § Abortion in the Soviet Union

In 1920, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic became the first modern country to legalize abortion.[39][40]

In the USSR, during the Congress of Kiev in 1932, abortion was criticized for decreasing the country's birth rate. Abortion was finally banned on June 27, 1936[citation needed]. The number of officially-recorded abortions dropped sharply from 1.9 million in 1935 to 570,000 in 1937, but began to climb just two years later, reaching 755,000 in 1939.[41][better source needed] On November 23, 1955, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, under Nikita Khrushchev, liberalized abortion restrictions.[42]

Yemen

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See also: South Yemen

The law of South Yemen only allowed abortion to save the mother's life, as with North Yemen.[43]

Yugoslavia

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See also: Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Abortion was legalized in 1952.[44][better source needed]Article 191 of the federal constitution states that "it is a human right to decide on the birth of children". All the republics of Yugoslavia passed laws between 1977 and 1979 that regulated abortion; in Croatia, for example, abortion was only allowed until 10 weeks of pregnancy, but in Slovenia, it was allowed after the 10 weeks on request.[citation needed]

Other Communist areas

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Democratic Federation of Northern Syria

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See also: Rojava

Although Syria only allows abortion to save a mother's life, the de facto autonomous region of the DFNS legalizes abortion for all women. Barbara Anna, a member of the Turkish Communist Party, reflected more broadly on how limits to women's bodily autonomy relate to the imposition of capitalism and imperialism. She compared the situations in the Middle East where women's economic activity and sexual freedom is heavily restricted to the situation in the neoliberal capitalist centre, where women's sexual freedom comes at the expense of constant objectification and commodification.[45]

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia

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The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia supported abortion, despite the laws of Colombia only allowing it in cases of rape, fetal defects, or a need to preserve the mother's health.[46]

Paris Commune

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Article XII states that: "The submission of the children and the mother to the authority of the father, who prepares the submission of each one to the authority of the chief, is pronounced dead. The couple consents freely to seek common pleasure. The Commune proclaims freedom of birth: the right to sexual information from childhood, the right to abortion, the right to contraception. As the products cease to be the property of their parents. They live together in their home and run their own lives." This was in sharp contrast to the French law at the time, which prohibited abortion.[47][better source needed]

References

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  2. ^ "The World's Abortion Laws". Center for Reproductive Rights. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  3. ^ Miller, Claire Cain; Sanger-Katz, Margot (2022-05-04) [2022-01-22]. "On Abortion Law, the U.S. Is Unusual. Without Roe, It Would Be, Too". The Upshot. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  4. ^ Lau, Mimi (2022-06-25) [2022-06-19]. "China's controversial history of abortion needs different cultural lens". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  5. ^ Hvistendahl, Mara (17 September 2010). "Has China Outgrown The One-Child Policy?". Science. 329 (5998): 1458–1461. Bibcode:2010Sci...329.1458H. doi:10.1126/science.329.5998.1458. ISSN 0036-8075. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  6. ^ Goldberg, Justin (2015-10-29). "China to End One-Child Policy". Center for Reproductive Rights. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
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  8. ^ "China to reduce abortions for 'non-medical purposes'". Reuters. 2021-09-27. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  9. ^ a b Bélanger, Danièle; Flynn, Andrea (2009-01-01). "The Persistence of Induced Abortion in Cuba: Exploring the Notion of an "Abortion Culture"". Studies in Family Planning. 40 (1): 13–26. doi:10.1111/j.1728-4465.2009.00183.x. ISSN 0039-3665. PMID 19397182. Retrieved 2024-11-01 – via Wiley Online Library.
  10. ^ Acosta, Nelson (2022-07-22). "Cuba approves law change that opens door to gay marriage, other family rights". Reuters. Retrieved 2022-12-06. Cuba is already a regional front-runner in women's rights. Women head up nearly 50% of households and make up 60% of professionals, have free access to abortion, and can claim up to two years' maternity leave.
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  29. ^ Zidovsky, J.; Zwinger, A. (24 August 1972). "Legalized abortion in Czechoslovakia". Medical Gynaecology, Andrology, and Sociology. 8 (2): 7–9. PMID 12256872.
  30. ^ "East German Parliament Approves Free Abortion". The New York Times. 10 March 1972. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2021-08-03. Retrieved 22 August 2018. The East German Parliament passed a bill today allowing free abortion on demand within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Dr. Mecklinger took note of the opposition of the churches and of a "religiously motivated sense of morality" among some East German women. He said the new bill left it to the women concerned 'to make use of the right or to waive it.'
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  35. ^ [1][dead link]
  36. ^ a b Nowicka, Wanda. "The Struggle for Abortion Rights in Poland" (PDF). In Parker, Richard; Petchesky, Rosalind; Sember, Robert (eds.). SexPolitics - Reports from the Front Lines (PDF). Rio de Janeiro. pp. 167–196. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  37. ^ "Decree 770 of Ceausescu - Searching in History". Searchinghistory.blogspot.com. 19 January 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  38. ^ "Decree 770", Wikipedia, 2023-02-21, retrieved 2023-03-02
  39. ^ Hovey, G. (1985). "Abortion: a history". Planned Parenthood Review. 5 (2): 18–21. ISSN 0275-5122. PMID 12340403.
  40. ^ Solomon, S. G. (1993). "The demographic argument in Soviet debates over the legalization of abortion in the 1920s". Clio Medica (Amsterdam, Netherlands). 23: 140–173. ISSN 0045-7183. PMID 7691465 – via PubMed.
  41. ^ "Abolition of Legal Abortion". Soviethistory.msu.edu. 18 June 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  42. ^ Field, Mark G. (30 August 1956). "The Re-Legalization of Abortion in Soviet Russia". New England Journal of Medicine. 255 (9): 421–427. doi:10.1056/nejm195608302550905. PMID 13358858.
  43. ^ "Data". www.un.org.
  44. ^ "Abortion rights in the former ex-Yugoslavia: abortion as a human right". Znajznanje.org (Blog). Archived from the original on 2018-04-28. Retrieved 24 August 2018 – via Wayback Machine.
  45. ^ "Kurdish women call for YES vote". LookLeft. 24 May 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  46. ^ "Farc têm grande contingente de mulheres guerrilheiras - BBC Brasil - BBC World Service" [FARC has large contingent of female guerrillas]. BBC Brasil. 2003-03-12. Archived from the original on 23 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018. As forças militares colombianas também acusam a guerrilha de obrigar as meninas a usar métodos anticoncepcionais incompatíveis com a idade delas, de realizar abortos e ser obrigadas a ter relações sexuais com seus superiores. [According to her, most of them opt for implants and injections. In the FARC, according to her, abortion is allowed. It is a woman’s own decision.]
  47. ^ "Núcleo Psol UFMG: Decretos da Comuna de Paris de 1871" [Decrees of the Paris Commune of 1871]. Núcleo Psol UFMG (blog) (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-11-01.
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