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 Zimbabwe if the child may be born with serious physical or mental defects, or if the fetus was conceived as a result of rape or incest. Under the former law, the latter two conditions were not circumstances under which a legal abortion could be obtained. Although the new law expanded abortion access, it did not go far enough for some: Jacquie Stafford, president of the National Organisation for Women, wrote in a letter to "The Herald" that the law "showed nothing but contempt for the women of this country, and makes me wonder at the sanity of our parliamentary representatives." After