Abortion in Azerbaijan is legal on request up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, and in specific circumstances between 12 and 28 weeks.[1] The current abortion law of Azerbaijan is based on the abortion law of the Soviet Union of 1955 when Azerbaijan was a Republic of the Soviet Union (as the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic), and no changes were made after Azerbaijan became independent in 1991.[2] Between 1965 and 1987 the abortion rate used to be very high (between 20 and 28%).[3] Since independence, the abortion rate has almost halved and relatively stabilized after 2000 (between 12 and 14%).[3] In the 2014, 13.8% of pregnancies in Azerbaijan ended in abortion, a slight rise from the all-time low recorded in 2005 (12.1%).[3]