Whoo-ee this could have been better editied. Sasha's Cost of Living column in RJ. CD
The Russia Journal :: The Russia Journal :: Columns || Articles Abortion or contraception?
By ALEXANDER KONDORSKY / The Russia Journal
Russian history contains a 100-year period when abortion was punished by a death penalty. However, this was quite a long time ago, from 1649 to 1749.
But abortion did not become legal until November 1920 when the Bolshevik government presented this "gift" to the people. Incidentally, this was the first abortion-legalizing law ever adopted in the world. In pre-revolutionary Russia, abortion was punishable by prison terms for both the woman and the doctor who performed the surgery.
In reality, the Soviet governments consistently encouraged parenthood and childbirth, speaking out against abortion and enlightening the population about its possible health implications.
In 1936, abortion in Russia was banned on Stalin’s decree – apparently to compensate for the losses of lives caused by the massive repressions – and legalized again during the Khrushchev’s "thaw," in 1955.
Birth-control pills, which created a real revolution in the West in mid-1960s, only appeared in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s. Intra-Uterine Devices (IUD) appeared earlier, in the early 1980s, and were regarded as the "most high-tech" means of contraception.
Abortion statistics were unavailable during the Soviet era, and it was only with the start of the Mikhail Gorbachev’s Perestroika that we found out the Soviet Union had the highest annual abortion rate – approximately 120 per 1,000 women of reproductive age.
Though official statistics shows a reduction in the number of abortions from 4.5 million in 1990 to just slightly more than 2 million in 2002, many experts are skeptical, saying the figures are marred by the complete absence of information from the numerous privately owned hospitals and clinics.
Among the reasons forcing them to decide in favor of abortion, Russian women name financial problems (40 percent), fear for child’s future (21 percent), housing problems (15 percent). But what is most shocking, nine percent said they chose abortion for accessibility and convenience. Incidentally, only 3 percent of Russian women use pills, while in Europe the corresponding figure is more than 51 percent.
In addition to the objective factors mentioned, the patriarchal national mentality that all responsibility for birth control lies with women could also explain the popularity of abortions in Russia.
Officially, abortion is included on the list of medical services provided free under the mandatory medical insurance plan, which is guaranteed by the state to each citizen of the Russian Federation.
Predictably, conditions in the state-run hospitals and clinics are deplorable while the personnel are bribe-hungry. Those who ought to know say that it is almost impossible to get a free abortion nowadays unless you are severely handicapped, socially depressed or enormously lucky.
At the same time, privately owned clinics offer abortion, contraception and consultations at prices which seem affordable to most. For example, it costs around $20 or 14 percent of the average monthly wage (currently officially stated equal to $147 per month) to have an IUD installed, while an abortion costs around $125.
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