Abortion rate in the U.S. and Soviet Union 1970-1989

Abortions in the Soviet Union became much more accessible under the Khrushchev administration in 1953, and the USSR's abortion rate subsequently developed into the highest in the world. The Soviet government did not begin releasing official statistical data until the 1970s, however it is believed that around six or seven million abortions were carried out each year in the 1950s and 1960s; a figure that remained fairly consistent until the late 1980s**. This high rate was, in-part, due to rapid urbanization and a desire for smaller families, as well as the lack of quality contraceptives produced by the Soviet government, and the widespread belief that abortion was safer than the side-effects of hormonal regulation via the pill. Relative to population size, there were between 97 and 106 abortions carried out per 1,000 women aged between 15 and 49 in the given years, which is roughly equal to one in ten women of childbearing age having an abortion each year (estimates for Russia alone suggest that this number was one in six in the 1960s). There were however regional disparities across the Soviet Union, as abortions were much more accessible and common in the European part of the country, and less available or socially acceptable in the Muslim-majority and rural regions of Asia.

Abortion in the U.S.

In the U.S. during this time, the abortion rate was much lower due to previous legal restrictions and lack of access, societal attitudes, and better access to contraceptives. Prior to 1973, abortions were either banned outright or only available under specific circumstances in all-but-four states. The Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade then saw the removal of most federal restrictions relating to abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. This granted women across the country greater access to legal abortions; in 1975 there were over one million legal abortions performed in the U.S., and between 1.5 and 1.6 million in the 1980s. Proportional to population size, this equated to 29 abortions per 1,000 women aged between 15 and 45 in 1980, which is roughly equal to one in 34 women of childbearing age having an abortion in this year.

Legacy

During the decline and dissolution of the Soviet Union, the government began to promote the use of contraceptives, however the poor quality and supply of these reinforced former perceptions that they were more harmful than abortions. Additionally, medical institutions received much higher sums from the government when abortions were performed (relative to income from contraceptives), and these incentives delayed the drop in Russian and other post-Soviet states' abortion rates. While it is now generally accepted that contraception is safer than abortion, and awareness of the risks of infertility and maternal death has become more widespread, today, Soviet successor states have some of the highest abortion rates in the world by a considerable margin.

In the U.S., following the peak of almost 30 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 in the 1980s, the abortion rate has gradually fallen with each decade, even dropping below the 1973 level in 2017. Although this is a side effect of improvements in contraception and education, a large part of this decline can be attributed to restricted access to abortion, particularly in rural and southern regions. While the majority of U.S. adults support Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court overturned the ruling in June 2022, granting states the right to determine their own abortion laws.