Pregnancy Terminations in Russia According to Official Statistics
Journal: Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya
Year: 2021

Abortion in Russia was probably the main tool of the demographic transition in fertility. Russia was the first country in the world (in 1920) to legalise the right to abortion on request. Women, with no other means at their disposal to postpone or avoid having a baby, were forced to terminate their pregnancies. In response to popular demand, an "abortion industry" emerged that also survived the period of abortion prohibition. In 1964, Russia recorded a record 5.6 million aborted pregnancies, or