OnIslam.net

MOSCOW – With a resurgence of religion after the collapse of the communist Soviet Union and declining birth rates, Russia is on a moral crusade to ban abortion.

"Our two main motives are the fact that Russia is dying out and our religious tradition," Yelena Mizulina, chair of the family issues committee at the Russian parliament, told Reuters.

"We cannot forget our faith."

Mizulina's committee has floated a bill to amend Russia's law on health to help reduce the number of abortions in Russia.

Backed by the Russian Orthodox Church, the bill would cap abortions at 12 weeks and impose a waiting period of up to one week from initial consultations.

It also requires women over six weeks pregnant to see the embryo on ultrasound, hear its heartbeat and have counseling to determine how to proceed.

The amendment is guaranteed to pass parliament after it was approved in a critical second of three readings on Oct. 21.

"Despite the long Communist period, it is seen as murder, as a violation of the ten commandments," said Mizulina.

Russia has the world's highest rate of abortion -- 1.3 million, or 73 per 100 births in 2009.

The bill is seen as an effort by the government to reverse a population decline caused by low birth rates combined with very high death rates.

With Russians dying nearly twice as fast as they are born, the United Nations predicts that by 2050 its population will shrink by almost one fifth to 116 million.

The government has worked hard to foster a baby boom, honoring big families at pomp-filled Kremlin events, offering subsidies to parents with more than one child and even raffling off cars to women who give birth on the national holiday.

"America is not threatened with extinction, it can afford to be more lenient," Mizulina said.

Outcry

The Church-backed cap on abortion has sparked outcry from some Russians.

"Why should a priest decide what I do with my body?" Dina Orlova, 31, told Reuters.

She objected to the inclusion of priests on an expert council that drafted the Russian bill.

More than 150 human rights and feminist groups signed a global petition against the measures last month, while others have staged rallies in Moscow.

At one such demonstration, a handful of young activists unfurled banners with the slogans: "Fight Abortion, Not Women," "My Body Is My Body," and "Better Abortion than Bad Parenting."

The Soviet Union was the first country to legalize abortion in 1920.

But Soviet dictator Josef Stalin outlawed abortion in 1936, seeking to boost births, and it was illegal until after his 1955 death.

Women's groups point to a surge in deaths from illegal abortions under the total ban.

"They should look to history: If a woman doesn't want to have a baby, she'll end her pregnancy with a coat hanger," said Yerofeyeva, who set up the non-profit Russian Association for Population and Development (RANIR) in the 1990s to promote sex education.

"Women do not owe the state, they don't have to give birth like machines," she said.

But the Church rejects the criticism, saying Russians are ready to see more limits on abortion.

"Attitudes are clearly changing swiftly and should be reflected in politics and the law," spokesman Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin said.

In a first victory for the anti-abortion camp, lawmakers approved legislation in July requiring abortion advertisements to carry health warnings.

Nevertheless, stricter rules -- requiring parental consent for young women under 18 or spousal approval for married women and eliminating state support for abortions -- were left off the new draft bill after polls showed them to be unpopular, Mizulina said.