The Ministry of Health and the State Duma took up the restriction of medical abortions

The Ministry of Health is working to reduce the number of abortions in the country. And one of the areas of this activity, the ministry sees the taking under control of drugs for abortion in the early stages, medical or pharmacological abortions. Most likely, for “pills from pregnancy” in clinics and pharmacies, special lists and quantitative records will be introduced.

That is, they will be issued by the piece and under reporting. Such measures are going to be introduced to improve demographics, because the birth rate is steadily falling. According to experts, 1.24 million people will be born in Russia in 2023, the worst figure in the last 25 years.

The idea of ​​“take and ban” abortion has been promoted in Russia since the 2010s. There were various proposals: to withdraw abortions from the CHI system (or, on the contrary, to leave them only in this system, but to prohibit private clinics from doing it). Take permission from the husband (father) to carry out the procedure. Or go through a commission consisting of a doctor, a psychologist, a social worker and a priest, each of whom will dissuade a woman from a rash step. Equip each antenatal clinic with the icon of the Mother of God “Non-Idle”, where the Virgin Mary carries a child under her heart. Hang advertisements for having many children everywhere – like the poster “The country needs your records”, where a smiling mother with styling from a stylist is depicted with three children.

The idea of ​​“accurate accounting” of drugs for pharmaceutical abortion in order to combat the “black market” of such pills is also not new; back in March, Tatyana Butskaya, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Family, Women and Children, voiced it. “Unfortunately, there are doctors who sell these drugs under the counter,” the parliamentarian complained. In order to combat smuggling, Butskaya suggested compiling a special list for such drugs and selling them individually.

The other day, the Ministry of Health reported that “the number of abortions has decreased significantly in recent years.” But, according to the head of the department Murashko, “there is a reserve.” This is probably why the ministry not only approved “restrictions on the sale and transfer of abortion drugs to the subject-quantitative account.” But they were going to “this year this process must be completed.”

“I would like to immediately distinguish between drugs for pharmaceutical abortion and emergency contraception,” says Galina Ruitskaya, a gynecologist with 34 years of experience. – Emergency contraception – prevention of possible conception 1-3 days after unprotected intercourse. Pharmaceutical abortion is the termination of an already diagnosed pregnancy at 6-9 weeks. These are two different groups of drugs, but I’m afraid both can get “distributed” ..

It is well known that medical abortion does much less harm to a woman’s body than surgical abortion. At 6-9 weeks of gestation, the fetus is similar in shape and size to a bean. In fact, this is a cluster of cells, a clot of tissue. The nervous system, brain, heart, internal organs have not yet been formed. If a woman is determined to get rid of the child, it is much better to do it at this stage. Drugs for medical abortion are prescribed by a doctor in a scheme with others that make it easier for a woman to recover. The body is capable of a new conception after a couple of cycles, but it is better to plan a child after six months.

Delaying the decision to have an abortion, obstacles can lead to the fact that the time for the application of the drug will be lost, and a surgical abortion will have to be done. And if surgical abortions are also banned, women will go to “underground offices”, sometimes just to grandmas. We have already gone through all this: mustard, knitting needles, turpentine and so on. An increase in female and infant mortality with a ban or restriction on abortion. If abortion pills become even more inaccessible, this will begin in the early stages.

– A colleague told me that in Latin America, where any abortion is prohibited, women take veterinary drugs to abort large dogs or cattle, – continues Ruitskaya. – It all ends in different ways, sometimes terribly, with massive bleeding. So it is necessary not to prohibit, but to promote contraception.

It is well known that there are several countries in the world where abortion is completely or partially banned for cultural and religious reasons. In Ireland and Nicaragua, abortion is prohibited, except when the life of the mother is threatened. In Poland and Chile, they are allowed in rare cases in case of a threat to the life of the mother, fetal pathology or during pregnancy as a result of violent acts. In Malta, El Salvador and the Vatican are absolutely prohibited. In addition to clandestine abortions, “abortion tourism” is flourishing in these countries – trips to other countries in order to get rid of unwanted pregnancies. The top countries for “abortion tourism” are India, Thailand, China, Mexico, Colombia, Cambodia, Argentina and Uruguay.

But there is another global way to fight abortion: quality family planning, access to free consultations and contraceptive methods. In Sweden, therefore, the number of abortions has halved since 1975. Among such countries are also Holland, Austria, Portugal. The number of abortions has significantly decreased in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland, for example, where state restrictions are nevertheless combined with educational ones.