In an edict of 23 November 1955, the government of the former USSR repealed the general prohibition on the performance of abortions contained in the 1936 Decree. Other regulations, also issued in 1955, specified that abortions could be performed freely during the first twelve weeks of pregnancy, if no contraindication existed, and after that point, when the continuance of the pregnancy and the birth would harm the mother (interpreted to include foetal handicap). The abortion had to be performed in a hospital by a physician and, unless the mother's health was threatened, a fee was charged.