The Legislative Assembly of Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region presented a bill to the State Duma this Wednesday that aims to ban private clinics from carrying out voluntary terminations of pregnancy (IVG).
This measure is part of an extensive campaign to restrict abortion at the federal level in Russia.
There is currently no similar federal provision in the legislation, meaning abortion can be performed in both public and private clinics unless authorities in the region determine otherwise, the TASS news agency reported.
In recent months, private clinics in the Chelyabinsk, Lipetsk, Kursk, Tatarstan and Crimea regions, which have been under Moscow since 2014, have refused to perform these types of procedures in private clinics, among others.
At the federal level, there is a growing consensus on imposing fines for encouraging abortion.
In the Kaliningrad region, doctors can be fined up to 50,000 rubles (500 euros) for practicing IVG.
The regions of Mordovia and Tver have passed similar legislation.
Tatarstan Commissioner for Children’s Rights Irina Volynets has proposed punishing doctors who practice IVG with fines of up to 90,000 rubles (900 euros) and a suspension of up to two years, Meduza news agency reported.
Patriarch Cyril, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, called on the State Duma in November to regulate abortion at the federal level, saying such a move could boost the country’s demographic growth.
Source: DN
