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According to the current Penal Code, Article 201, abortion is allowed on request up to the 14th week of pregnancy. Doctors who perform abortions after this limit, except for “therapeutic” terminations, risk a fine or imprisonment of 6 months to 3 years. Abortion was legal in Romania from 1957-1966, but very restricted during 1966-1990 when communists tried to increase the fertility and population of the country. In 2004, there were 191,000 abortions, 46% of the pregnancies of that year. The abortion rate has declined heavily since then.

The first 40 Days for Life campaign in Romania was held in Cluj-Napoca in 2015 (one of the largest cities in the country) in front of a hospital. During the first campaign in which around 600 people participated, Dan and Julia Calinescu got permission to counsel women inside the hospital where the vigil happened. Abortion activists painted the hospital with pro-abortion graffiti, but pro-lifers repainted the hospital with the Bishop and donated paint to make it look beautiful again. Cities all over Romania participated from this textbook campaign which inspired people all over the nation as the legacy and the witness continues to this day from the first campaign.