User:Alisonyardley/sandbox

Reproductive Health
Before the 1959 revolution, Abortion in Cuba was illegal and contraceptives inaccessible. Reproductive health laws were patterned after the 1870 Penal Code in Spain, making abortion highly restrictive. In 1936, some of the more restrictive laws were rewritten and put into the new penal code, called the Social Defense Code.

After the creation of the FMC in 1960, efforts were made to increase the reproductive rights of women in Cuba. In 1965, abortion was decriminalized and in 1979, abortion was made free and more easily accessible. The United Nations Population Policy data bank states that between 1968 and 1974, the rate of legal abortion went from 16.5 to 69.5 legal abortions performed per 1,000 women of reproductive age. Currently, the estimate is around 47 and 62 legal abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age.

The reason there is such a focus on abortion when discussing reproductive rights in Cuba is because it is very commonly used for family planning. However, other contraceptives are available for free through the Cuban healthcare system and are used. According to statistics gathered from UNICEF and the United Nations Population Division, it is estimated that contraceptive prevalence of any method (methods defined as modern methods of contraceptives, including female and male sterilization, oral hormonal pills, the intrauterine device (IUD), the male condom, injectables, implantable devices, vaginal barrier methods, the female condom and emergency contraception and not including abortion) was 73.7 percent of women in Cuba ages 15-49. The peak percentage was 77.8 in 2010 and lowest 60 percent in 1980.