Estimates of demand for abortion among Soviet immigrants in Israel

In 1990, more than 185,000 Soviet Jews emigrated to Israel, increasing Israel's population by 4 percent; 148,000 more arrived in 1991. Given the fertility and abortion patterns prevailing among Soviet women in their native country, this article inquires about the short-range expected increase in abortion demand in Israel engendered by this large migratory inflow. Estimation techniques based on the abortion experience of an earlier wave of Soviet-born immigrants in Israel reveal that the increase in requests for abortion brought about by the 1990 immigrants may reach up to 14 percent, and as high as 24 percent for the combined immigration waves of 1990 and 1991. The expanded demand for abortions in Israel engendered by the new Soviet immigrants necessitates an expansion of both family planning services and of the medical committees entitled to grant a legal abortion. A failure in these fields would benefit illegal abortion.