The Role of Abortion in Fertility Decisions in the Soviet Union: Results from Analysis of Data from Soviet Emigres

This paper examines the timing of the use of abortion in the Soviet Union. Based on reports by immigrants from the Soviet Union to the United States about their life in the Soviet Union, the determinants of ever having an abortion and of having numerous abortions are examined. It was found that abortion was rarely used to postpone the beginning of childbearing. About one-third of the women never had an abortion, about one-third used abortion only to stop childbearing, and about one-third used abortion for a combination of spacing and stopping. Although two-thirds of the women had experienced at least one abortion, only 20% of the children of these women were born subsequent to their mothers having had at least one abortion. Thus, the potential for previous abortions to directly affect infant and child mortality among this population was quite limited. A large proportion of all abortions was concentrated among a small proportion of all women--those women who had exceeded their desired family size by two or more children.