The Association of Private Clinics of St. Petersburg assessed the risks of banning abortions in the commercial sector
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In Russia, the campaign against the ban on abortions in commercial clinics is gaining momentum. A number of Russian politicians previously made such a proposal; the initiative received the support of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’. Representatives of the Association of Private Clinics of St. Petersburg, whose expert assessment was sought by the State Duma, warned that restrictions would lead to the growth of the shadow sector, and instead offered to co-finance pregnancy support within the framework of compulsory medical insurance in leading private clinics. Petitions demanding to stop “misogynistic” actions were created by residents of the Kaliningrad and Nizhny Novgorod regions.
In mid-November 2023, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church called for the adoption of a federal law banning “inducement to abortion.” This is necessary, he believes, since doctors “sometimes, for various reasons, including commercial ones, persuade a woman to have an abortion.” The Patriarch also called for the exclusion of artificial abortion from the list of services provided by private clinics in Russia.
The State Duma Health Protection Committee has not yet commented on the initiative of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, however, according to Kommersant, deputies have begun to collect the opinions of industry experts. As part of studying the point of view of the professional community, the parliamentary committee sent a request, including to the Association of Private Clinics of St. Petersburg.
The association shares concerns about demographic problems, but the initiative requires improvement, says the response (available to Kommersant).
The decision to ban should be based on statistics, and not on unfounded accusations of financial interest in carrying out abortions, doctors insist. “This procedure is not commercially profitable for private clinics. It is much more profitable to carry out screenings of pregnant women, consultations, examination of the fetus, support of pregnancy throughout the entire period, obstetrics and pediatrics,” explained Alexander Solonin, general director of the Association of Private Clinics of St. Petersburg, to Kommersant. Mr. Solonin added that many organizations included in the association do not provide abortions. Some commercial clinics licensed to perform abortions perform them only for medical reasons.
Claims against private clinics about non-compliance with days of silence and failure to provide statistics on abortions, according to Mr. Solonin, are not entirely correct: licensing requirements are the same for both public and private medicine.
“The ban on artificial termination of pregnancy in the private health care system has no relation to the process of medical care, to the assessment of its quality and safety. Accordingly, the adoption of a legislative act introducing restrictions based on the form of ownership undermines confidence in the licensing institution and the institutions of control and supervisory authorities in general,” says the document received by the State Duma.
A ban on abortion will lead to the growth of the shadow sector, warn representatives of the Association of Private Clinics of St. Petersburg. Instead, it is proposed to take measures that could motivate a woman to keep the child. These include, for example, certificates for pregnancy management, similar to maternity certificates, which could also be used in private clinics. The association also suggests considering the possibility of co-financing pregnancy support within the framework of compulsory medical insurance in leading private clinics or allocating funds to sanatorium-resort treatment to maintain the health of families with children and those planning a pregnancy.
Let us note that one of the first politicians who summer 2023 Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Anna Kuznetsova proposed a ban on abortion in commercial organizations.
Ms. Kuznetsova previously stated that St. Petersburg has the largest number of commercial clinics in the country licensed to provide abortions, and, accordingly, the demographic situation there is “extremely catastrophic.”
The St. Petersburg Health Committee clarified to Kommersant that 343 organizations have a license to perform abortions in the city. Of these, 9 are federal, 59 are regional, 275 are private medical organizations. In 2022, 3,774 women applied for abortion services (private organizations are not included in the statistics). 3,592 women were consulted in medical and social support offices (centers), and 686 of them refused abortion.
Reducing the list of organizations will lead to queues for abortions, experts and human rights activists warn.
Obstetrician-gynecologist, public health and health specialist, WHO expert Lyubov Erofeeva confirmed to Kommersant: the ban in the private sector will be followed by queues at state hospitals, which will “open the door to mafia structures” to perform urgent or anonymous “criminal abortions.” She emphasized that private clinics that have received licenses are under state control. According to her, so far not a single supporter of the initiative has been able to provide specific facts of violations by private owners.
The government of St. Petersburg also believes that the legislative initiative to ban abortions in commercial hospitals is premature. “Today, there are no legal grounds for refusing to issue a license to a private medical organization to carry out abortion activities,” the St. Petersburg Health Committee told Kommersant.
Meanwhile, in Russia, as Kommersant reported, the number of regions where private clinics themselves refuse to perform abortions is growing. As a rule, this happens after conversations between doctors and regional officials, who strongly suggest that clinic managers “contribute to improving the demographic situation in the country.” Today, commercial organizations in Crimea and the Kursk region have completely abandoned the provision of abortions, and clinics in Mordovia, Tatarstan, and the Chelyabinsk region have partially refused to perform abortions. The introduction of a possible ban is being discussed in the Primorsky Territory and the Nizhny Novgorod Region. On November 23, the Kaliningrad region adopted a law on administrative liability for inducing women to have an artificial abortion; the fine will range from 3 thousand to 50 thousand rubles. Previously, similar measures were introduced in Mordovia and the Tver region.
However, the movement of opponents of the initiative is also growing. Thus, residents of the Kaliningrad region created a petition demanding to stop the “misogynistic” actions of the authorities, which “will inevitably lead to the spread of illegal abortions.” Almost 30 thousand people joined the campaign. Residents of the Nizhny Novgorod region, in their petition to the governor, also ask not to tighten the rules for abortion in the region. Within a few hours, the document had already received 1.5 thousand signatures.
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