Russia wants to ban abortion in private clinics to try to reverse the decline in birth rates, despite the harsh criticism that this demographic policy is causing among experts and activists.
Official estimates indicate that in 2030 the Russian population will be 143.2 million, the lowest level since 2012, and in 2046 it will be 138.7 million people.
This preliminary forecast by the Federal Statistics Agency has been prepared including the annexed Crimean peninsula (almost two million), but not residents in the Ukrainian regions incorporated in 2022 (Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporijia and Kherson).
In total, in the first nine months of this year in Russia, a country at war, just over 953 thousand children were born, 31 thousand less than in the same period last year. The Russian Social Fund estimates that the same number of children will be born this year as in 1999 (1.2 million) and the situation will only worsen in the coming years.
According to the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Cyril, the solution to this problem is to prohibit abortion.
Along these lines, two weeks ago, Cirilo had already asked Russian deputies to prohibit abortions in private clinics.
“As we all know from historical examples, and our Government also knows, the ban does not reduce the number of abortions or increase the birth rate,” Leda Gariña, founder of the feminist group “Eva’s Ribs,” told Efe.
According to Leda Garina, the restrictions lead to an increase in infanticide and only seek to “reinforce control over sexuality” to instill feelings of “shame and fear” in women.
“In the history of Russia there was already a period of total ban on abortion and things did not end well. The birth rate increased only in the first year after the ban, then women adapted, that is, they found illegal ways of interrupt the pregnancy,” added activist Yulia Karpujina, a member of the same group.
Faced with the possible approval of an anti-abortion law, many medical centers began, on their own initiative, to eliminate the voluntary interruption of pregnancy from the list of services provided to the population. So far, clinics in at least five regions have adhered to this veto.
The Russian republic of Mordovia, in the European part of the country, was also a pioneer in introducing fines for “incitement to abortion”, an example followed by the Tver region. At the same time, authorities tightened control over abortive drugs sold to the public.
Yulia Karpujina insisted that “no law can significantly increase the birth rate”, which is declining around the world. And if the State needs more citizens, it should worry “about life expectancy and not about waging wars with other countries.”
According to official statistics, almost 400,000 abortions are recorded annually in Russia, a figure that has decreased almost fivefold compared to the 1990s.
Source: TSF
