On Wednesday, during a Governmental session focusing on Russia’s demographic situation, Russian Health Minister, Veronika Skvortsova, stated that the number of abortions ought to be reduced.
According to her, this decrease of 8% in 2015 and 24.5% compared to 2011 figures is due to “active psychological support measures implemented for pregnant women and the introduction of a pre-abortion consultation service in maternity hospitals and antenatal clinics”.
Contrastingly, only a short while before, the Russian Church had voiced its concerns about the number of abortions practised in Russia.
Addressing Douma and the Federation Council, Patriarch Kirill begged for the cost of abortion to be excluded from mandatory health insurance. Furthermore, he pointed out that the statistics did not include the majority of abortions, mainly medication-induced abortions, which are on the increase.
European Center for Law and Justice (06/04/2016)