Interview with a Midwife: In Romania, Abortion Care Access is Slipping Away

“Anytime a woman comes for health services there are huge barriers.”

Song Ah Lee, Heather Barr
April 7, 2025

Romania has a deeply disturbing history of interfering with women’s reproductive rights. Behind the Iron Curtain, abortion as well as birth control was deeply restricted from 1966 until the government fell – with the USSR – in 1989. During this time, roughly 10,000 women and girls died after they were forced to resort to unsafe abortion; some experts believe the real figure is much higher.

Today, on paper at least, abortion in Romania is legal until the 14th week of pregnancy and in certain other cases. But in reality, it’s shockingly and increasingly hard for women to access health care services to end unwanted pregnancies. While government officials pay lip service to protecting women’s rights, behind the scenes they are often doing whatever they can to make abortion inaccessible, including partnering with “crisis pregnancy centers” that pressure women and girls to continue pregnancies, often through deceptive and other abusive means. A new Human Rights Watch report, “It’s Happening Even Without You Noticing”, documents this alarming trend. Human Rights Watch’s former researcher Song Ah speaks with Romanian midwife and activist Irina Mateescu about her work to defend the sexual and reproductive health rights of women and girls.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/04/07/interview-midwife-romania-abortion-care-access-slipping-away

Access to Abortion Is Shrinking in Romania

In a country that famously banned terminations, with devastating consequences, new medical rules are once again costing women’s lives

Lili Rutai
June 14, 2024

Alina Usurelu sensed she was pregnant. An independent artist, she often works with her body, which is how she quickly noticed it change. “Very rationally, I knew I couldn’t deal with having a kid,” the 33-year-old told me in the Romanian capital of Bucharest, citing her financial insecurity. A pregnancy test last September confirmed her suspicion.

But in the city of 1.8 million, Usurelu could not find an affordable, state-run hospital online. “I was struggling. My anxiety grew,” she told New Lines a few months later. We met near her apartment in one of Bucharest’s central neighborhoods, where buildings with high ceilings are sandwiched between crumbling Soviet-era blocks. Her black hair is peppered with gray, cut short for a recent performance.

Continued: https://newlinesmag.com/spotlight/access-to-abortion-is-shrinking-in-romania/

How US dollars put anti-abortion groups at the heart of Romanian healthcare

Buoyed by evangelical zeal, a growing number of US-funded ‘pregnancy crisis centres’ threaten to return the country to the deadly days of Ceaușescu’s ban

Weronika Strzyżyńska and Diana Oncioiu in Romania
Fri 22 Jul 2022

It was the middle of summer, and the smell of ripening mirabelle plums filled the streets of Bucharest. Irina Mateescu was almost 18 and living with her grandparents. She had good grades, a boyfriend, and a late period which she was trying not think about.

“Eventually, I couldn’t ignore it any more. I saw a leaflet advertising free pregnancy tests. I didn’t have the money to buy one so I went to the address,” she recalls, 22 years later standing on the balcony of her new office.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/jul/22/how-us-dollars-put-anti-abortion-groups-at-the-heart-of-romanian-healthcare