In the spring of 1920, when abortion was still prohibited in the Soviet Union, Nikolai Semashko, the commissar of health, was deluged by letters concerning the frightening popularity of the practice. One worker from a factory staffed largely by young women wrote, “Within the past six months, among 100 to 150 young people under age 25, I have seen 15 to 20 percent of them making abortions without a doctor's help. They simply use household products: They drink bleach and other poisonous mixtures.” The letters, from Party members as well as workers, indicated that the law against abortion did little to deter women who wanted to terminate their pregnancies.

The practice of abortion had been widespread in Russia prior to the Revolution despite the strict legal prohibition against it. The Criminal Code of 1885 defined abortion as a “premeditated act” of murder. It prescribed stiff punishment for both those who performed and those who underwent the procedure. After 1905, many doctors and jurists urged reform of the abortion laws; prominent professional organizations recommended legalization. Yet despite criticism of the existing legislation, only a few advanced the feminist argument that women had the right to make their own reproductive choices.

The October Revolution and subsequent civil war did little to halt the practice of underground abortion. In fact, famine, hardship, and economic ruin spurred increasing numbers of women to seek illegal abortions.