During the rule of Communist politician Nicolae Ceaușescu, Romania underwent drastic changes to its populace. Ceaușescu, in an attempt to form a robust and young population, outlawed methods of contraception and encouraged the creation of large families with many children. Much like during the Fascist period of Italian history, incentives and cultural praise were offered to parents who produced many children. Ceaușescu established Decree 770 which outlawed abortion and contraception for all women, except those who were over 40, had already born 4–5 children, had life-threatening complications during pregnancy, or who became pregnant through rape or incest. In the following years, Romania’s birth rate nearly doubled. However, due to a lack of resources necessary to care for the abundance of children, thousands were abandoned or left to die. Other women resorted to unsafe forms of abortion carried out by people without medical training. The problem persisted until the coup that overthrew Ceaușescu in 1989. Following the coup, Romania's birthrate steadily declined for the following decades. Today, the birth rate has dropped to 1.52 births per woman, under the rate of replacement.