Recently in Russia, abortion rights have been attacked. For
decades, Russian women could have an elective abortion up to week 12 of
pregnancy; between 12 and 22 weeks, medical or social grounds were required for
an abortion.
In mid 2011, a group of Parliamentarians teamed up
with Russian Orthodox Church activists and announced their desire to ban
abortions, and the new version of the health law with restricting amendments
was introduced: a mandatory waiting period, physicians’ conscientious
objection, and limiting the social indications for late-term abortion.
Evidence indicates that restricting legislative
changes based on “traditional” values could significantly limit women’s
reproductive choices (e.g., access to abortion), a setback to women’s rights to
exert control over their bodies and their lives...
For many decades, the law on abortions in the Soviet Union,
including Russia, was very liberal. Russian women could request an abortion
until week 12 of pregnancy. Between weeks 12 and 22, an abortion could be done
only on medical or so-called social grounds, as defined by the Ministry of
Health. For the first time in 2003, the government dramatically limited the
number of permissible grounds. For instance, it eliminated the right to a
second-trimester abortion for reasons of social vulnerability (i.e., when the
parents are unemployed or imprisoned or have limited financial means). In 2007,
the government emphasized moral values and a pronatalist approach and has
continued to attack abortion rights for medical and social reasons, although,
in practice, the share of abortions made for those reasons has never
represented more than two to three percent of all abortions.
In the past, it was not uncommon for some
conservative politicians in the State Duma (Russian Parliament) to sponsor
legislation further restricting women’s rights for abortion. On several
occasions, it was proposed that married women should require explicit
permission from their husbands. It was further proposed that abortions should
be completely banned, except in life-threatening situations. There was even a
proposal to recognize that human life begins from the moment of conception and
that abortion should therefore be considered as homicide. None of these
proposals has been adopted or even gone to a vote. All were rejected by the
Health Care Committee of the Duma. However, in 2010 to 2011, the situation
changed. A working group to explore restrictions on abortion was formed under
the auspices of the State Duma’s Women, Family and Children Issues Committee.
The head of this committee, together with a group of Parliamentarians, has
teamed up with clerical groups, which are antiabortion, anti–sex education, and
anti–birth control. Most are affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church, which
is highly politically influential in modern Russia. For 18 months, the working
group has been focusing on measures to restrict women’s access to abortion.
This included removing a woman’s existing rights and vesting them, instead,
with her legal guardians (i.e., her husband and the government). Since its
inception, individual members of the working group speaking at Christian events
have publicly expressed their wish to completely ban abortions in Russia.
In mid 2011, the Duma started debating a revised
health law. Dmitry Medvedev, the former president (2008–2012), expressed his
full support for proposed new legislation, which was to be adopted by the end
of 2011. Debates on abortion focused on antichoice proposals. Detractors
pointed out that antichoice measures would do nothing to tackle Russia’s
prevailing problems. The supporters of antiliberal measures typically proclaim
themselves as defenders of traditional Christian values. Although they
typically do nоt hesitate to accuse women seeking abortions of being murderers,
absent from their rhetoric is any mention of sexual abuse. The proposals fail
to recognize, or even discuss, the high incidence of rape in Russia and its
implications. That the incidence of rape in Russia has never even been
seriously researched is indicative of the nature of the problem. Note, also,
that the government does nothing to ensure that Russian physicians comply with
recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO) for abortions, despite
having access to modern methods and equipment. In the framework of “Strategic
Assessment of the Quality of Care in Abortion and Contraception Services”
project, a survey was conducted in 2009 by the WHO, the Russian Ministry of
Health and Social Development (MOHSD), and the nongovernmental partners, such
as Russian Association for Population and Development (RAPD). The assessment
concluded that Russian physicians often make mistakes leading to completely
unnecessary complications when performing established abortion procedures and
lack knowledge about contraception counseling. Unfortunately, the survey
results were not officially endorsed by the MOHSD and were not used for the
development of further plans for improvements in contraception provision and
abortion services...
Full article at: http://goo.gl/AcA4ve
By: 
Corresponding author.
Correspondence should be
sent to Lyubov Vladimirovna Erofeeva, MD, MPH, Russian Association for
Population and Development, Office 201, 23A, Dolgorukovskaya Ul, Moscow, RF,
127006 (e-mail: ur.rinar@aveefore).
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv_insight
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