Irina Ilisei Bite

"I would like to share the experience Romania had during the Communist regime, when there was no, or very little access to contraception. This was happening mostly if you had good connections and money. Abortion was strongly forbidden. If you were a woman caught having an abortion, actually deciding about your own body, or a doctor, or someone who helps in doing this, you would face 20 years in prison. This actually did not grow the natality rate in Romania, as our dictator back then was hoping. What happened was that women were continuing to do abortions, but with very, very high risks. The actual number is much, much higher, but the “official” number is that 10,000 women died during the Communist regime in trying to have abortions.



So, in Texas, Poland, or in many other places where there is no free access to abortion, the situation will be very similar to that in Romania then. Women will continue to have abortions, but not in a safe way. Women will travel abroad, but who can afford to travel?"