Three Russian regions are introducing fines for “inducing abortions”
In Russian regions, “inducement to abortion” has begun to be prohibited. For the first time in the country, such a law was adopted in Mordovia, then in the Tver region. In the Tambov region, he was introduced to the Duma as the head of the region. In all three regions, violators will be fined up to 200 thousand rubles. This is how they plan to combat low birth rates.
By “inducing artificial abortion”, legislators mean persuasion, bribery and deception of pregnant women. “Such actions are recognized as a threat to the family,” note in the Legislative Assembly of the Tver region.
The fine amounts are the same in all regions: from 5 to 10 thousand rubles for ordinary citizens, from 10 to 20 thousand for foreigners, from 25 to 50 thousand for officials and from 100 to 200 thousand rubles for legal entities. They will be fined regardless of whether an abortion was performed or not.
At the same time, doctor Lyubov Erofeeva, an obstetrician-gynecologist, public health specialist and WHO expert, in a conversation with Lenta.ru, said that women have abortions not because they were “lured by advertising” or persuaded, but because the current pregnancy undesirable for them. “None of the doctors are interested in women having more abortions. And no one will terminate a desired pregnancy thanks to advertising. The woman will not agree to any persuasion and will not terminate the pregnancy,” Erofeeva emphasized.
In Mordovia, abortion is considered “legalized infanticide”
“Abortion is legalized infanticide. Mordovia is an advanced region, no one has done as much as this republic,” said President of the Women for Life Foundation Natalya Moskvitina at the session of the State Assembly of Mordovia on the day of the adoption of the law banning inducement to abortion.
Photo: Amr Taha / Unsplash
Mordovia’s efforts in the fight against abortion are not limited to fines. There came to the conclusion, that if in government institutions the number of abortions is decreasing, then in private clinics, on the contrary, it is increasing, “because they do not look at the moral component.” By decision of the head of the region, Artem Zdunov, private clinics in the republic voluntarily began to refuse abortion services.
Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Anna Kuznetsova is convinced that this practice should be extended throughout Russia, because where abortions are not available in private clinics, the birth rate is supposedly higher. It is unknown on what basis such claims are made and whether studies have been conducted to establish a link between access to abortion and demographic indicators.
We did it: now no one in Mordovia will be able to manipulate the rights of pregnant women. No one will say: “It’s not time to give birth yet,” no one has the right to advise terminating a pregnancy, or to manipulate and threaten women while they are expecting a child. She is expecting a child – and let the whole world wait. She is protected in Mordovia. She has the right to be a mother!
Natalya Moskvitina supported Kuznetsova and proposed completely transferring abortions to government institutions throughout Russia. In the Novgorod region they are already thinking about introducing a similar practice.
However, gynecologist Erofeeva, in a conversation with Lenta.ru, explained that this measure will not increase the birth rate, but may increase the number of clandestine abortions.
“A woman who has an abortion (…) does not make the decision to terminate the pregnancy out of great joy. And if you put various obstacles in her way, she will look for other ways. In a completely hopeless situation, a woman can fall into the hands of unscrupulous people and various criminal groups,” the specialist noted.
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Photo: Bulkin Sergey / Globallookpress.com
Abortion Promotion Law Could Discredit Doctors and Harm Women
All three regions promise no fines for informing about medical indications for abortion. To such testimony includein particular, congenital anomalies of the fetus with an unfavorable prognosis for life, ectopic pregnancy and diseases of the woman that may prevent her from bearing a child and maintaining health.
Legislators do not mention the presence of social indications, which include rape, either in Mordovia or in the Tver and Tambov regions
At the same time, gynecologist Erofeeva pointed out the fine line between persuasion and informing. In her opinion, even if a woman does not have medical indications for an abortion, and she does not want to continue the pregnancy, the doctor can tell her: “You still have a short period of time, you have time for a medical abortion.” “The sooner such a woman has an abortion, the better for her health and for the rehabilitation of her reproductive function. This is not an inducement to abortion,” Erofeeva is sure.
Member of the Human Rights Council under the President of Russia (HRC) Eva Merkacheva, commenting on the Mordovian law on “inducement to abortion,” stated: “Let the legislators forgive me, but who is this law for? Isn’t it [он] does not discredit our doctors? I don’t know a single doctor who, without medical indications, would advise a woman to have an abortion.”
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The human rights activist also admitted that the new law will allow women to report husbands who oppose having children to the police.
By opinion lawyer at the Asterisk Law Office Sofia Volkova, it will be difficult to prove the fact of inducement to abortion: “As practice has shown, even if we are talking about physical violence in the family, women are still reluctant to seek help.” Gynecologist Erofeeva also agreed with the difficulty of proving this “violation”: according to her, such conversations in the family are not an inducement to abortion.
“Even if a woman is not informed about abortion in medical institutions, she will find a way to terminate the pregnancy,” noted gynecologist Erofeeva. “Such bans are harmful because they do not affect the demand for abortion.” The law on “abortion inducement,” in her opinion, will only harm women.
Imagine: a girl came from the provinces, entered, lives and studies in a big city. And she doesn’t know where to turn to with an unwanted pregnancy. And we are silent. We doctors are silent! Why are we doing this?
According to the head of the Center for the Protection of Victims of Violence, lawyer Marie Davtyan, the law may limit human rights. She noted that the constitutionality of this law would likely be questioned later.
Earlier, Veronika Vlasova, a member of the State Duma Committee on Health Protection, proposed performing abortions with the consent of not only the woman, but also her husband, and also reducing the period of artificial termination of pregnancy at will from 12 weeks to 8. The husband’s consent to an abortion and any factors complicating access to this procedure, WHO expert Erofeeva called it a severe violation of women’s rights, and called for the proposal of deputy Vlasova to be sent to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. Soon after this, the State Duma assured that the preparation of amendments to the law on abortion was still a long way off.
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