Human Rights Watch (HRW) has raised alarm over increasing barriers to sexual and reproductive healthcare in Romania, as women and girls face growing challenges in accessing abortion, contraception, and sexual education. The report, titled ‘It’s Happening Even Without You Noticing’, criticizes the Romanian government’s failure to uphold fundamental reproductive rights.
Song Ah Lee, former Finberg fellow at HRW, emphasized, “Women and girls in Romania face an increasingly hostile landscape as they seek to make decisions about their own bodies and healthcare.” The report details how authorities not only fail to protect these rights but often enable efforts to block access to care.
Under Romanian law, abortion remains legal up to 14 weeks of pregnancy (Article 190 of the Romanian Criminal Code). However, HRW found widespread cases of doctors and hospitals refusing to provide abortions, citing “conscientious objection” without offering referrals to other providers, violating medical ethics. Anti-abortion groups and crisis pregnancy centers, supported by authorities, use deceptive tactics, such as spreading misinformation about fetal disposal, to deter women from seeking abortions.
One example highlighted in the report is Nina, a 19-year-old who was misdirected by her family doctor to an anti-abortion website, where she was delayed in receiving care until she surpassed the legal limit. “It was really painful, and it still is,” Nina shared, describing the emotional and financial strain post-birth.
Contraceptive access is similarly limited, and schools lack evidence-based sexual education, echoing Romania’s dark history under Decree 770 (1966-1989), which banned abortion and contraception, leading to unsafe procedures and over 10,000 maternal deaths. Lee urges Romania to learn from its past and respect the rights of women and girls today.
HRW’s report paints a grim picture of Romania’s reproductive rights situation, calling for immediate reform to protect women’s autonomy and healthcare access.
