When Romania outlawed abortion, it was a disaster

"Romania under Ceausescu created a dystopian horror of overcrowded, filthy orphanages, and thousands died from back-alley abortions," writes Amy MacKinnon for Foreign Policy. "When communism collapsed in Romania in 1989, an estimated 170,000 children were found warehoused in filthy orphanages. Having previously been hidden from the world, images emerged of stick-thin children, many of whom had been beaten and abused. Some were left shackled to metal bed frames."

Image: aerial shot of a group of volunteers praying before serving an underdeveloped orphanage in Romania. By Shawn Reddy/Shutterstock