In Mordovia, fines were introduced for abortion

The State Assembly of Mordovia passed a law that introduces fines for “propaganda” of abortion and “inclination of a woman to artificial termination of pregnancy”.

The deputies suggested that the so-called abortion propaganda should be understood as “the formation of an attitude towards abortion as a social norm”, “a negative attitude towards pregnancy and childbirth”, messages about the “harmlessness and safety” of abortion, “fear of the birth and upbringing of a child”.

Under this description, the deputies also included “derogatory statements” about pregnant women, “denying that an embryo and a fetus are living human beings.”

In the opinion of the deputies, the propensity to abortion is defined as “college, proposal, bribery, deception”, as well as providing a pregnant woman with positive data about the procedure. A woman’s husband or partner may also be held liable.

The amendments do not apply to cases of termination of pregnancy for medical reasons.

According to the adopted law, fines for citizens will be from 5 to 10 thousand rubles, for foreigners the amount of the fine will be twice as much, and they will also face deportation from Russia. Officials can be fined from 25 to 50 thousand, and legal entities – from 100 to 200 thousand. The courts will also be able to suspend the work of the latter for up to 90 days.

The author of the amendments adopted by the parliament of Mordovia, according to “Rossiyskaya gazeta”, is a member of the Public Chamber of the republic, TV presenter of the Orthodox channel “Spas” Natalya Moskvitina. She explained the need for fines with demographic decline, massive migration and replacement of the indigenous population.

Representatives of the Communist Party opposed the adoption of the amendments. They talked about the lack of effectiveness of banning or restricting abortions to increase the birth rate.

In mid-July, the head of the Russian Ministry of Health, Mikhail Murashko, after a meeting with United Russia deputies, stated that Russia intends to make it more difficult to access drugs for abortion.

According to the analytical company RNC Pharma reported that in 2022 the demand of Russians for abortion drugs increased by 50-60 percent immediately, Kommersant reported. Experts believe that such a dynamic is connected with women’s doubts about the need to give birth to children in the current political situation. Another possible reason is the desire of clinics to stock up in the face of sanctions. In Russia, drugs for the termination of pregnancy are officially supplied only to licensed clinics.

According to Rosstat data, the relative birth rate from January to June of the current year, 8.5 children per 1,000 people, has become one of the worst in the modern history of Russia. This indicator was lower only in 1999 – 8.3 children per 1,000 people.

As The Moscow Times wrote recently, the Kremlin has banned the controlled mass media from reporting on the minimum birth rate in Russia during Vladimir Putin’s rule.