Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1975 (3. évfolyam, 6-8. szám)
1975 / 6. szám
each of these institutions greatly increased between 1960 and 1973, it is still far from sufficient.3 Housing Regulations Housing rules issued in 1971 have an indirect population policy aim of improving the housing conditions of families with children. Preference for housing is given to parents with several children. A rent reduction scheme is available for residents of dwellings owned by local councils. This scheme grants reductions for children and other dependents as follows: 20 percent for the first child, 25 percent per child for additional children, and 20 percent per person for other dependent family members. The total rent reduction cannot exceed 80 percent of the rent. Couples under age 35 receive a rent reduction if they promise to have one child within three years or two children within six years after application. The cost of buying or building private apartment dwellings is reduced for the buyer or the builder according to the number of children and dependents of the residents. Young couples are given first preference. Abortion Before 1952, interruption of pregnancy was legal only for medical reasons. The number of legally induced abortions and the number of registered spontaneous abortions were fairly constant. The birth rate fell from 20.9 to 19.6 per thousand between 1950 and 1952, and in 1953 strong efforts were made to enforce existing criminal laws against illegal abortion. Partly as a result of this enforcement, the birth rate climbed to 23 per thousand in 1954. In June 1956 a new abortion law was passed, which stated that induced abortion was justified (1) if it was necessary to save the life of the mother or to protect her from a serious disease or its exacerbation; (2) if the unborn fetus was in probable danger of serious injury; or (3) if personal or family circumstances 3 About 10 percent of eligible children used the creche facilities, 57 percent the kindergartens, and 25 percent the daytime homes in 1973. were worthy of consideration or the petitioner insisted on the abortion. Abortion was granted on these last grounds only up to 12 weeks of gestation. Medical boards or commissions for the authorization of therapeutic abortions were established. Although it was the duty of a commission, consisting of a chairman, a physician, and three members, to try to dissuade an applicant when an abortion did not seem justified, the commission generally authorized the procedure if the applicant insisted. Under the law, induced abortions could be carried out only by physicians in hospitals and maternity homes. After the passing of this law, the rate of legal abortions increased rapidly until it reached 78 per thousand women aged 15-49 in 1969 (see Table 7). The number of induced abortions began to exceed the number of births in 1959 and reached a peak of 140 abortions per 100 live births in 1964. Since 1970, when the use of oral contraceptives began to increase rapidly, the number of induced abortions has declined each year, a decline made more significant by the increase in the number of women of reproductive age during this period. Since the IUD became available in Hungary only a short time ago, it has not yet been adopted by a sufficient number of women to have a measurable effect on the abortion rate. Further declines in the abortion rate should be seen, however, since use of both the oral and the IUD is expected to continue to increase. The 1973 Decision of the Council of Ministers on the Tasks of Population Policy calls for a revision of “the present system of induced interruption of pregnancy in order to decrease significantly its harmful impact on the health of mother and descendants.” After pointing out that “it has to be realized that nondesired pregnancies should be prevented rather than interrupted,” the Decision states that abortion “might be performed only in cases indicated by law” and enumerates the following ten specific circumstances in which induced abortion is legal: 1. if it is motivated from a medical point of view by health reasons existing with the parents or to be expected with the child to be bom; 2. if the woman does not live in marriage or lives separately from her partner for a long period; 3. if the pregnancy results from a criminal assault; 4. if the pregnant woman or her husband has no apartment that is his/her property or has no independent dwelling; 5. if the pregnant woman has three or more children or if she has had three or more confinements; or if she has two living children and has had at least one additional obstetrical event; 6. if the pregnant woman is aged 40 or over; after 1978, this regulation will extend to women aged 35 and older; 7. if the woman has two living children, in cases of a third pregnancy, and if the viability or development of the fetus is probably endangered; 8. if the husband is in regular service or special service in the armed forces; TABLE 7 Incidence of induced abortion, Hungary, 1955-1973 Year Number (thousands) Per 1,000 women aged 15-49 Per 1,000 live births Per 1,000 total obstetrical events 1955 35 14 170 120 1960 162 65 1,110 470 1965 180 72 1,360 520 1966 187 73 1,350 520 1967 188 72 1,260 500 1968 201 76 1,300 510 1969 207 78 1,340 520 1970 192 72 1,270 510 1971 187 69 1,240 510 1972 179 67 1,170 490 1973« 169 63 1,080 480 ° Preliminary data. 12
