From 21 July 1940, Latvia was known as the
Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic and followed the
abortion laws of the
Soviet Union (USSR). On 27 June 1936, the USSR banned abortions unless there was a danger to the life of the mother or the child would inherit a serious disease from the parents. Under this law, abortions were meant to be performed in maternity homes and hospitals, and physicians who disregarded this risked one to two years' imprisonment. On 23 November 1955, the
Government of the Soviet Union issued a decree which allowed abortions to be available on request. Later that year, abortion was restricted so that it could only be performed in the first three months of pregnancy, unless the birth would endanger the mother. Physicians had to perform abortions in hospitals, and unless the mother was in danger, a fee was charged. As of 2013, an abortion can be performed without request up to the twelfth week of pregnancy, and can be requested up to the twenty-eighth. , the abortion rate was 15.6 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 years.
Mifepristone (medical abortion) was registered in 2002. ==See also==