Tver region introduces administrative penalties for inducing abortions

Legislative Assembly of the Tver Region accepted Law “On the prohibition of inducement to artificial termination of pregnancy” on the territory of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation. As reported on the website of the regional parliament, this decision was made at its meeting on November 2. Deputies supported the initiative of Governor Igor Rudeni, who believes that the law will help increase the birth rate and counter “information threats to the family, fatherhood, motherhood and childhood.”

For individuals for “inducing” an abortion, fines of up to 5,000 rubles are provided, for officials up to 50,000 rubles, for legal entities – up to 200,000 rubles. The law recognizes inclination to artificial termination of pregnancy as a threat to the family, paternity, motherhood and childhood. It means forcing a pregnant woman to have an artificial abortion through persuasion, proposals, bribery, deception, and other demands.

Partner at the Pen & Paper Bar Association, Ekaterina Tyagai, indicated that fines are also intended for legal entities and officials. “That is, we can talk not only about doctors, but also, for example, about the children’s fathers, their relatives or relatives and friends of the child’s mother. Does this mean that it will be safer for all of them to avoid discussing pregnancy issues with a woman altogether, so as not to fall under the vague framework of a new offense?” asks Tyagay.

In August, the first region to introduce a ban on inducing women to undergo abortion on its territory was Mordovia.

The author of the bill in the republic was the president of the charitable foundation for the support of family, motherhood and childhood “Women for Life”, Natalya Moskvitina, who also advocates a ban on abortion in commercial clinics. Fines in the region for individuals are higher – up to 10,000 rubles. For officials and legal entities the same as in Tver.

As Moskvitina pointed out, men who force their wives and girls to have an abortion may also be subject to sanctions under the Mordovian law. Tyagay believes that a woman can provide a screenshot of correspondence, video and voice recordings as evidence of such actions.

In October, the governor of the Tambov region, Maxim Egorov, introduced a similar bill to the regional Duma. The document provides for fines, as in Mordovia.

Earlier, in a conversation with Vedomosti, lawyer at the Asterisk law firm Sofya Volkova noted that the legislative initiative reflects a general trend and could become the beginning of a wave of major legislative changes in this area, including at the federal level. It is unlikely that this norm will actively work, Volkova believes.

On October 30, the Duma Committee on Health Protection also discussed with experts the generalized proposals of the Russian Orthodox Church and the medical community to amend the legislation regulating abortion. Among them, in particular, there was the idea of ​​​​introducing administrative liability for inducing artificial termination of pregnancy.

In addition, proposals voiced in the State Duma to amend Art. 56 on artificial termination of pregnancy from the law “On the Fundamentals of Health Protection” includes the exclusion of abortions from the services of private clinics, as well as a reduction in the permissible period for an abortion from 12 to eight weeks inclusive, and in the case of pregnancy as a result of rape, 12 instead of 22. The Russian Orthodox Church also proposes to oblige have abortions with the consent of the spouse.

On December 2, a deputy from the “New People” faction, Ksenia Goryacheva, at the beginning of a meeting of the lower house, criticized the previously voiced initiatives. She pointed out that over the past 40 years, banning abortion has not helped increase the birth rate in other countries of the world. “Banning abortion is not a way out of the current demographic situation. Instead, we need real support for those planning a family. If parents know that the state will help them in any difficult situation, the birth rate will increase,” Goryacheva said.