[1] The relevant legislation is based on the laws inherited from the country's Soviet past, when abortion was legally permitted as a contraceptive.
[viii][5] For most of the 20th century, due to state support, the main method of contraception used in the Soviet Union was abortion.
Over the following decade, anti-abortion would be an important current among Kazakhs, framed as a cultural bastion attacked by Soviet (generally Slavic) officials.
[9] During the period when abortion was legal, it was not practiced as legislators had intended – clinics did not receive funding and patients were forced to pay.
[14] The period of legality ended on June 27, 1936,[14] with "The Decree in Defense of Mother and Child", a law under which abortions could only be performed for patients whose lives were in danger.
[15] The regional (oblast) government established a system of controls to ensure the law was obeyed: physicians had to declare their practices, sending a request to end a pregnancy to be reviewed by a monthly committee.
[16] The press was used as a propaganda tool against women who underwent illegal abortions, depicting them as capricious enemies of the motherland.
[ix] There are no reliable sources as to this clandestine activity[19] but evidence from the archives, contrary to the cased treated in the press, shows that women found undergoing illegal abortions were generally unmarried.
[20] In one case in 1940, eleven women with symptoms typical of attempted abortion were detained and separated from their families, underwent state scrutiny and faced public humiliation.
[25] (out of 1000 women aged 15–44) Beginning with its independence from the USSR in 1991, Kazakhstan began to replace abortion with other methods of contraception.
[6] A study based on the data between 1995 and 1999 found that abortions are mostly performed in urban areas, the then capital Almaty and the North and East regions of the country.
The Demographic and Health Survey of Kazakhstan asked 3,771 women if they would have an abortion in case of accidental pregnancy and 35.6% responded in the affirmative, 20.6% were not sure and the rest replied in the negative.
[30] A UN report published in 2002 explained that abortions were available on request during the first trimester, with no particular motivation required; between 12 and 28 weeks, the service is available if certain social or medical circumstances are present.
[38] In 2009, the ministry approved Order 626,[39] which was modified in 2012 regarding the following aspects: Between 12 and 22 weeks, on social grounds, including: With no gestational limit: For minors under 16, parental consent is required.
The successful reduction of the abortion rate was due to the efforts in education, information and communication (like the Red Apple campaign on social media) which encouraged the population to use modern contraceptive methods.
[39] A 2007 investigation concluded that the high abortion rate could be caused by limited access to health services, especially in rural regions.
[46] A 2011 report found that the rates of teenage pregnancy and back-alley abortions were leading to deaths, primarily caused by a lack of specific preventative programs.