Abortion in Russia Abortion in Russia Abortion in Russia is legal as an elective procedure up to the 12th week of pregnancy, and in special circumstances at later stages. In 1920, Russian Soviet Republic became the first country in the world to allow abortion in all circumstances, but over the course of the 20th century, the legality of abortion changed more than once, with a ban being enacted again from 1936 to 1955. Russia had the highest number of abortions per woman of child-bearing age in the world according to UN data as of 2010. In terms of the total number, in 2009
Abortion in Queensland of the Supreme Court of Victoria ruled that an abortion performed in the reasonable belief it was necessary to protect the woman's physical or mental wellbeing was lawful, which became known as the "Menhennitt ruling". The Menhennitt ruling was applied in the 1986 Queensland case "R v Bayliss; R v Cullen" by Judge McGuire of the District Court of Queensland, which he considered to mirror the lawful abortion exemption established by section 282 of the Criminal Code. This resulting "McGuire ruling" allowed abortion to protect a woman's physical or mental health, and was upheld on appeal by the Supreme Court