Show this to the liberal geniuses calling texas a “soviet state”.
It doesn’t encourage legal abortions though
its warning women not to get unsafe at home abortions because medical abortions were legal and available during this time. i think mostly this was part of a campaign to crack down on these illegal home abortions that were still being performed in rural places, though over 75% of abortions were being legally done in hospitals at that time
I think understanding the context might be important? Were legal abortions available at this time or not? That would be the thing to check to properly understand what this is actually trying to say I think, I think you could read this poster as a “don’t get at home abortions no matter who is performing it” poster if that is the case.
The Decree on Women’s Healthcare that went into effect in 1920 officially and undeniably legalised abortion.
It explicitly states it is legal and available in soviet hospitals:
But as the moral survivals of the past and the difficult economic conditions of the present still compel many women to resort to this operation, the People’s Commissariats of Health and of Justice, anxious to protect the health of the women and considering that the method of repressions in this field fails entirely to achieve this aim, have decided:
(1) To permit such operations to be made freely and without any charge in Soviet hospitals, where conditions are assured of minimizing the harm of the operation.
(2) Absolutely to forbid anyone but a doctor to carry out this operation.
(3) Any nurse or midwife found guilty of making such an operation will be deprived of the right to practice, and tried by a People’s Court.
(4) A doctor carrying out an abortion in his private practice with mercenary aims will be called to account by a People’s Court.
I think the correct interpretation of this poster is that it is against abortions performed by anyone other than a DOCTOR in a soviet hospital.
The title reads “Miscarriages induced by grandma or midwives not only maim the woman, they also often lead to death”. “Выкидыш” here refers to a miscarriage. This was part of a campaign against these illegal abortions that many people in rural areas were still getting and cracking down on the people that were still performing them illegally aka “БаБка и акушерка” referring to self taught grandmas and midwives, not legal medical professionals. Abortions were legal in medical settings at this time.
yes midwives during this time could apply outside of hospital settings, as in not a medical professional but someone who helps women give birth and care for them, as was most common in rural places. This isnt referring to the legal abortions that were available to women administered by medical professionals in legal hospital settings.
Imagine how it must be to live in a place where the government actively promotes progress and enlightenment.
