The Effects of Nicolae Ceausescu's "Overplanned Parenthood"

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 17:02:16 -0500

I posted this on Facebook this morning. A friend encouraged me to spread the word, so that people get a better understanding of what it means for the government to ban contraception, family planning, pre-natal care, and legal abortions.

I grew up in Romania in the 70s and 80s, during the brutal Ceausescu regime. During those times there was no contraception available, nor any sex education of any kind. When I was about 10-11, my Mother had a miscarriage and was suffering immensely, yet there were declarations she had to give that she didn't deliberately cause herself to abort the baby before she received any assistance. At the hospital, doctors and nurses were not allowed to help anyone coming in with what was believed to be a miscarriage or an abortion, until the "legal department" came around and established whether the woman had done it deliberately. These "legals" were part of the Securitate, the brutal KGB-style internal police that was controlling the country. My best friend got pregnant when she was 17, but because there was no pre-natal care available, she didn't realise that the fetus was 6 months old. Fake periods led her to believe that she was only 2-3 months down the line. Eventually she confessed to her Mother, who arranged for someone to come home and "help'. It was pretty appaling and distressing for everybody when the nurse came to her house (hush-hush, of course), triggered the abortion and then they found out that the fetus was much older than they had originally believed. And since it was a fully grown fetus and not just a small thing, they had to dispose of it very carefully, otherwise they could have ended up in prison. They stored it in the freezer until they found an opportunity to do something with it. My friend was completely messed up after that experience, emotionally and otherwise, dropped out of school, etc. Another friend's mother was a nurse. She got caught helping girls with abortions and ended up in prison. Someone must have obviously had an inkling and reported her to the Securitate. My friend spent two years without his mother, at a time when he needed her most, as a teenager. I know "recipes" that women employed to 1) not become pregnant, and 2) abort the baby if it happened. Some of them are pretty gruesome. Many women died during those times. I don't have numbers handy, I don't think anybody has, because records were obviously not kept as far as this issue was concerned. If the abortion didn't succeed, yet the mother survived, many babies were born handicapped, or with deformities. Many more ended up abandoned, in horrific orphanages, or sometimes by the side of the road.

I left Romania soon after the regime changed in Romania. I was lucky to be accepted at a university in the UK and to live there for 10 years. I married an American and moved to the US in 2003. It terrifies me to think that the Right wing in this country wants to go down the path of banning contraception, de-legalise abortions, take away pre-natal care, etc. This is what these policies would lead to. I wish I had five minutes with Rick Santorum or any other politician, or clergy person who believes in banning these basic women's rights. I am angry and frightened about the prospect of this country reverting to what I experienced as a child and teenager.

Thank you for listening. Thank you for fighting.

Raluca, Chicago, IL

Raluca's Open Salon Blog

The Effects of Nicolae Ceausescu's "Overplanned Parenthood"