Upon his removal from power, new governmental powers immediately deemed abortions legal in order to combat high maternal death. New policies established the distribution of contraception, an availability to sex education, and the access to abortion during a woman’s first trimester of pregnancy (1992). As well as new policies being set in place, nongovernmental organizations also worked to create a better living and safe space for Romanian citizens. Nongovernmental organizations such as the Romanian Ministry of Health worked with the World Health Organization, the United Nations Population Fund, and the International Planned Parenthood Federation “in a coordinated effort to meet the country 's immediate and long-term Reproductive health needs” (1992). In other words, many organizations unified their efforts within Romania after the fall of Ceausescu in order to make their impact on the lives of Romanian citizens more beneficial for the citizens. The result of the legalization of abortion and the organizations’ aid was an improvement in the health of Romanian women. With access to safe and legal abortions now accessible, sex education, and contraception, women did not have to perform their own forms of abortion. However, some Romanian women still held extreme mistrust towards governmental powers and had an illegal or “back-alley” abortion (1992). While some women sought illegal …show more content…
The woman states, “‘Abortion is the only good thing, that democracy has brought us. Men have gained the right to be involved in politics and business; we have gained the right to abort! What else have we gained with the change to democracy . . . ?”’ (2000). The woman notes that with the legalization of abortion came the government’s acknowledgement of abortion as a woman’s right to choose whether to reproduce or not. In the legalization of abortion within Romania, women regained a sense of bodily authority and integrity. While, the legalization of abortion was seen as a redemption of women’s right, the femininity of women was still under attack in post-Ceausescu Romania, circa late 20th century. Within media, women were attacked for their choice to terminate a pregnancy, and sexual attitudes toward boys and girls regarding sexual education differed. This varied form of treatment explains the gendered acts women often associate with masculinity and femininity in marriage. Women note taking on more feminine roles such as being the sensitive, nurturing, and submissive partner, while the man tends to be more dominative (2000). So, although “liberated” from repressive pronatalist policies created by