The Soviet Union was the first country to have widespread, legalized abortion when the Commissariat of Health legalized abortions in November 1920. In its announcement, the Commissariat noted that the number of abortions occurring each year had continued to grow both in the Soviet Union and in European countries. They added in their decree that “legislation of all countries combats this evil [of abortion] by punishing the woman who chooses to have an abortion and the doctor who makes it” which drove many operations into underground markets where “up to 50 per cent of such woman are infected in the course of operation, and up to 4 per cent of them die.”
The Commissariat wanted the legalization of abortion in the Soviet Union to directly address this problem, stating women who have abortions are “victim[s] of mercenary and often ignorant quacks who make a profession of secret operations” and that the new law was to protect women, not punish them. Doctors were therefore allowed to perform abortions, free of charge, in public hospitals. However, midwives, nurses, and private physicians operating out of private practices were not allowed to perform abortions. This was again becase of the Commissariat’s health and safety reasoning.
Stalin reversed the legalization of abortion, except in cases where there was a serious threat to the pregnant woman’s health. This was part of his emphasis on the family unit. Then in 1955, the Soviet government lifted the ban on abortion. But they continued to emphasize prevention of abortion, whether legal or illegal, and coupled legalization with a pro-natal campaign and sexual health education. While elective abortions became legal again, the operations were still stigmatized. The state wanted to prevent most abortions, as part of its continued push for strong family units as the center of social stability.
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