Romanian women endured 22 million abortions after ex-dictator's ban on contraception

London, Feb 24(ANI): Romanian women went through over 22 million abortions as a result of policies introduced by former communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, health statistics have revealed.

According to the Daily Mail, official government records show that between 1958 and 2008 state clinics carried out 22.1 million terminations in a country with a population of just 21.5 million.xperts say that the figures came from Ceausescu's drive to push up the country's population by banning all forms of contraception.

One victim of the regime Raluca Ionescu, who has had 32 abortions, said: "I never thought about them as children, you know, just as a growth or something that needs to be taken care of."

"I first became pregnant when I was 13. My mother took me first to the clinic, then after that I went on my own," she added.

Health Ministry sources also warn that the true figure could be even higher as tens of thousands of pregnant women carried our DIY abortions or attended illegal clinics.

Ceausescu was the Secretary General of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, President of the Council of State from 1967, and President of Romania from 1974 to 1989.

His government was overthrown in a December 1989 revolution, and he and his wife were executed following a televised and hastily organized two-hour court session. (ANI)