Experts were wary of the decision of private doctors in Crimea to refuse abortions

The Crimean Ministry of Health has officially announced an end to the practice of abortions performed by private clinics on the peninsula. This is being done, according to the department, in order to “contribute to improving the demographic situation.” In state clinics, Crimean women still have this opportunity.

“The authorities and clergy of Crimea have asked private clinics to stop performing abortions,” the ministry said in a statement.

The day before, a round table was held with representatives of Roszdravnadzor, the Patriarchal Commission on Family Issues, Protection of Motherhood and Childhood, the public organization “Russian Unity” and private clinics. And “business” made a unanimous decision not to perform any more abortions.

But a woman still has the opportunity to have an abortion. In a state clinic, under compulsory medical insurance, where “psychologists help a woman understand herself and the motives for her decision,” assured the head of the Crimean Ministry of Health, Konstantin Skorupsky.

In the meantime, Crimeans are digesting the news, calling for baby homes to be built in the republic and noting that the state monopoly on abortion is alarming, experts are showing alarm.

“Such a decision is fraught with bad consequences, such as an increase in clandestine abortions and even the use of “grandmother’s recipes,” says obstetrician-gynecologist from Moscow Olga Ilyushina. – Abortion is not an easy operation in the clinic, the structure of the uterus is individual and the whole system as a whole is fragile. The doctor’s hand trembles and that’s it – the uterus is perforated. And in no underground office, even if the doctor there is a pro, it is impossible to create sterile operating room conditions. And this means postoperative risks, sepsis in the first place.

This is not to mention grandmas and all sorts of charlatans, but they exist. In order to understand how it happens when anyone and anything, various “folk remedies” are used to get rid of pregnancy, I recommend to everyone the book by the military surgeon Lomachinsky “Criminal Abortions”. I sometimes “prescribe” it at appointments if there is a suspicion that a woman might do something similar.

It describes the death of women from a fetus that was pigmented in the uterine cavity due to a folk remedy, abortion by ficus, and much more. By the way, this is not Stalin’s time; women there, due to their professional status, marriage or some other circumstances, could not afford to have an abortion officially.

And there is domestic violence and rape, and every doctor encounters this in practice. I have been in the profession for 25 years and communicate with women all the time. The attitude towards abortion in our country has changed, it has become much more conscious, the cultural level of people is different. There are few abortions; I can say that over the last 10 years there have been 10 times fewer abortions. But there are situations for women when there is no other solution. Recently, in practice, there was a case of a woman from a poor family who became pregnant with her third child. Her middle child was still in school. The fetus has a genetic anomaly with mosaic Down syndrome, the fetus is a hermaphrodite, etc. And she herself is strongly against abortion. She agreed only after the priest’s permission to get rid of the pregnancy…

According to UN statistics, back in 2004, Russia topped the list of developed countries in terms of the number of abortions, with 53.7 per 1,000 women. According to the Ministry of Health, in 2017, 627.1 thousand abortions were performed in Russia. In 2022, according to the same source, there will be 400 thousand abortions.

The so-called pre-reproductive or pre-abortion counseling, which was introduced in state clinics and residential complexes back in 2012, actually began to be carried out 2-3 years ago. A woman is dissuaded from having an abortion with the participation of a psychologist and a doctor. Sometimes – also a priest. According to statistics, such commissions dissuaded 21.6% of those wishing to have an abortion from terminating their pregnancy in 2021, and 10.9% in 2022.

On the other hand, new manuals distributed among gynecologists this summer sometimes remind us of reproductive violence and deliberately false information.

It contains the item: “How to convince girls to give birth before the age of 18.” “The child will strengthen your union” with the young father, they promise at the state clinic. And “You can always make a career, but you have to have time to give birth to a child at a young age.”

Women from 18 to 35 are promised: “You will discover many new interests and hobbies that will become the subject of your attention.” And “if your child’s father is not supporting you now, that may change soon.” Also, for some reason, the authors of recommendations for doctors believe that “According to statistics, couples who have children divorce much less often than couples who do not have children.”

And, of course, the main argument of this “memo”, sent out in the form of a pilot project across Russian regions (Crimea is not among them). “If you give birth to 7 or more children, you can be awarded the Order of Parental Glory, and if you give birth to 4 or more children, you can be awarded a medal for this order.”