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 the United Kingdom citizens of the UK, forbids them from having an abortion in their own home country." According to Bernadette Smyth, the leader of the Belfast-based group Precious Life which is opposed to abortion, "Women's health is not in danger. Women are not dying because they cannot get abortion." In March 2013, Northern Ireland Health Minister Jim Wells proposed an amendment "to restrict lawful abortions to NHS premises, except in cases of urgency when access to NHS premises is not possible and where no fee is paid". In response, Amnesty International asked the NI Assembly's Justice Committee to reject the full amendment,