Fetus Expulsion and Contraception in the Traditional Peasant Culture of the European Part of Russia (Second Half of the 19th Century through 1930s)

Abstract

The article discusses the issues of abortion and contraception as they stood in the everyday life of a Russian peasant woman in the stated period, despite the existing offi cial ban on the subject. Various means used for the prevention and termination of pregnancy are described. The author shows that, following a short spell of freedom that a woman had in the abortion issue, her rights in this issue would be gradually restricted again. Yet none of the measures taken, including the ban on abortion in 1936, led to the offi cially projected birth-rate growth.