Replacing the dead :, Nakachi, Mie,

It is not unusual for nations recovering from wars to incentivize their populations to raise their birthrates. The post-World War II Soviet pronatalism campaign attempted this on an unprecedented scale, aiming to replace a lost population of 27 million. Why, then, did the USSR re-legalize abortion
in 1955?

Mie Nakachi uses previously hidden archival data to reveal that decisions made by Stalin and Khruschev under the rubric of family law created a society of broken marriages, �fatherless� children, and abortions, each totaling in the tens of millions. The government reversed laws regarding paternal
responsibility, thereby encouraging men to impregnate unmarried women and widows, and blocked available contraception, overriding the advice of the medical establishment. Some 8.7 million out-of-wedlock children were born between 1945 and 1955 alone. In the absence of serious commitment to
supporting Soviet women who worked full-time, the policy did extensive damage to gender relations and the welfare of women and children. Women, famous cultural figures, and Soviet professionals initiated a movement to improve womens reproductive health and make all children equal. Because Soviet
leaders did not allow any major reform, an abortion culture grew among Soviet women and spread throughout the Soviet sphere, including Eastern Europe and China.