Abortion in Belarus
Encyclopedia
Abortion in Belarus has been legal since November 23, 1955, back when Belarus was a republic of the Soviet Union
. The current abortion legislation dates from December 31, 1987 and is one of the most liberal abortion laws in Europe, allowing on-demand abortion until the twenty-eighth week of pregnancy for a variety of reasons.
The 1987 law allows abortion on-demand for the traditional reasons of harm or death to the fetus and/or mother, rape and incest, as well as: the death of the husband during pregnancy, a jail sentence for either the mother or father, a court order stripping the pregnant woman of parental rights, if a household already exceeds five children, if the relationship between mother and father ends in divorce, or a family history which includes mental or physical disabilities.
Once a popular method of birth control
, abortions exceeded live births two-to-one in 1995. The rate has now fallen by over 75%, with abortions numbering 42,000 (or 39% of the live birth rate) in 2008.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. The current abortion legislation dates from December 31, 1987 and is one of the most liberal abortion laws in Europe, allowing on-demand abortion until the twenty-eighth week of pregnancy for a variety of reasons.
The 1987 law allows abortion on-demand for the traditional reasons of harm or death to the fetus and/or mother, rape and incest, as well as: the death of the husband during pregnancy, a jail sentence for either the mother or father, a court order stripping the pregnant woman of parental rights, if a household already exceeds five children, if the relationship between mother and father ends in divorce, or a family history which includes mental or physical disabilities.
Once a popular method of birth control
Birth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
, abortions exceeded live births two-to-one in 1995. The rate has now fallen by over 75%, with abortions numbering 42,000 (or 39% of the live birth rate) in 2008.