What happens when a country bans abortion - Article about Romania

[HandShoe]

When Romania’s communist dictator outlawed termination and contraception he condemned thousands of women to death and set his regime on the road to ruin
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/what-happens-when-a-country-bans-abortion-g67873wf7
I thought this was a really interesting article and thought I'd share it as many won't have seen it as its behind the Times paywall. While I vaguely remember the Ceausescu's being shot I knew very little about the regime, except of course the horrific reports of the orphanages afterwards.
The maternal mortality graph, shown alongside the rate due to abortion is particularly stark. Of course Romania was/is a very different country to the US but I think its still worth looking at as an example.

This one is even better: academic.oup.com/jlb/article/9/1/lsac011/6575467

Very interesting and sad

Thanks pointythings that is really detailed.

I have worked with quite a few Romanians who were born during this era. They all came from enormous families, six or more siblings was the norm. Their mothers must have been warriors to birth that many kids and raise them all to adulthood.

Thank you for raising this.

As a newborn, I was left on the steps of a Romanian church in a box. I was not an isolated case. Abortion was banned in the 80’s, but so was contraception in order to multiply the population. Families who could not afford to feed their children chose to abandon their children. Men raised these rules, men made these women pregnant, men made these women abandon their children. As a mother, I cannot imagine the anguish.

By the Grace of God, or because I was the cutest newborn, or for some other reason, I was adopted to a Russian couple, my parents. Many, many, many babies spent their entire childhoods in orphanages. Those of us adopted out, it was done informally, no paper trails for the majority of us. Many of us exchanged for cash to rich foreigners. I know I was. I count my lucky stars everyday because I just think of how many children must have been purchased by sick men as sex toys and I often feel guilty I was brought up in a weird but loving, extravagant childhood.

We have a Facebook group: the lost children of Romania. I can’t speak for everyone but it’s harrowing to think that history has the potential to repeat itself. Yet here we are. As a child I always wondered what was wrong with me, why was I abandoned, who are my parents, who do I look like, what did they do, do they have any genetic illnesses. Now I just feel lucky, knowing thousands have a life far worse than mine and I’m not justified to feel bad about myself.

Sorry, I know I’ve digressed.

I'm old enough to remember when the scandal of the Romanian orphanages broke. I'm not usually one for trigger warnings, but if you aren't aware of how bad conditions were, you should probably start here instead of using google.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_orphans

This is a really sobering post, thank you for sharing it and I'm glad you were raised in a loving environment, but can't imagine what you've also lost.