A Rights Lesson from History, Daily Brief April 7, 2025

How bad can things get when it comes to sexual and reproductive health rights?

When the government is telling you what you can and can’t do with your own body, like in parts of the US today, things are already very grim. The threat of digital surveillance in people’s medical decisions compounds the dangers.

But things can get even worse. And you don’t need the internet for it.

Romania’s history offers a disturbing, yet instructive, example.

In 1966, the country’s communist government adopted “Decree 770.” Its supposed aim was to drive up population growth. It imposed draconian bans on access to contraception and abortion.

The government monitored women’s reproductive status by having informants – usually medical workers or students – spy on them. They also subjected women to invasive and humiliating medical checkups in the presence of police.

Decree 770 was in place for decades. It was only repealed after the revolution and the overthrow of the communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu in 1989.

While in force, Decree 770 did tremendous damage. By pushing women and girls with unwanted pregnancies to have unsafe abortions, it led to the deaths of an estimated 10,000 women and girls.

With such a stark lesson in living memory, you might think the country’s democratic leaders today would all be strong supporters of reproductive rights. You might think they’d never want to take even a single step back down that deadly road.

And you’d be wrong.

Romania today has significantly eroded the sexual and reproductive health rights of women and girls, including the right to abortion and family planning methods. Romanian authorities are supposed to be upholding these rights, but instead, they are often enabling efforts to block people from exercising them.

Their methods may not be as extreme as under the Ceaușescu regime, but, as a new Human Rights Watch report found, they are still abusive and dangerous.

Women and girls face illegal barriers to accessing contraception. State authorities fail to provide age-appropriate, scientifically accurate, and comprehensive sexuality education in schools.

Abortion on request is legal in Romania until 14 weeks of pregnancy, but good luck finding a doctor to perform the medical procedure in time. A growing number of doctors and public hospitals no longer provide the service for a variety of reasons, many rather dubious, including misinterpreting laws.

Romanian authorities facilitate the work of anti-abortion groups and so-called crisis pregnancy centers that seek to dissuade or prevent people from accessing abortion. Their methods are sometimes deceptive and unethical.

The whole system seems almost intended to confuse and delay patients until they are past the 14-week limit.

All these measures mean Romania is backsliding seriously on sexual and reproductive health rights.

A country with Romania’s history ought to know better.