Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Russia turns spotlight on abortion

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Russia turns spotlight on abortion

    Russia turns spotlight on abortion

    Russia could be on the point of a significant change in direction on morality and sexual issues, as a major debate looms over the rights of women and unborn children.

    A government resolution on abortion, approved last month, is the first restriction of any kind on the practice since a ban imposed by Stalin was lifted in 1955.

    Russia is currently estimated to have nearly 13 terminations for every 10 live births, and the highest abortion rate in Europe after Romania.

    The resolution, which went virtually unnoticed in the country's media, envisages restrictions on women's access to abortion after 12 weeks.

    It is being hailed by anti-abortionists as a first step towards recognition of the rights of the unborn child.

    Alexander Chuyev, a pro-life campaigner and independent deputy in the State Duma, described it as a "small victory".

    But some pro-choice campaigners see it as the thin end of the wedge.

    "The resolution is the first step towards an attack on the rights of women," Russian Family Planning Association director Inga Grebesheva told BBC News Online.


    Previously, women in Russia could receive an abortion between 12 and 22 weeks of pregnancy by citing 13 special circumstances, including divorce, poverty and poor housing.

    These have now been reduced to four:


    -Rape
    -Imprisonment
    -Death or severe disability of husband
    -Court ruling stripping of woman of parental rights

    The measure is now irreversible, although it has still to go through the bureaucratic machinery of the Ministry of Health before it can be put into practice.

    It may be that this will not make much of a dent in the overall statistics - officially only 7% of women who seek abortions do so between 12 and 22 weeks of pregnancy.

    But Mr Chuyev told BBC News Online he was now pushing for a law to protect the rights of children, including the unborn.

    He hopes that any new measure will provide for the right to medical help for both the mother and the child, potentially making it harder for women to abort for medical reasons - something which has not been affected by the current resolution.

    One factor which may have given the pro-lifers' message more resonance with the government is the rapid decline in Russia's population, which could shrink by as much as 30 million in the next few decades.

    But experts say the resolution will not fundamentally affect the country's birth rate.

    "Women are very decisive," Victoria Sakevich, abortion specialist at the Academy of Sciences' Laboratory for the Analysis and Forecasting of Human Reproduction, told BBC News Online. "If they don't want to give birth, they'll find ways to have abortions."

    Education problem

    Most pro-choice campaigners agree that something must be done to reduce the abortion rate, but they say that the most important priority is education, the lack of which is in itself contributing to population decline.

    Many couples in Russia are infertile because of poor access to information about sexually transmitted diseases, Dr Grebesheva says, and some women are infertile because of abortions which would have been unnecessary had they had access to contraceptives.

    Almost everyone agrees on the need for some form of education for adolescents, but that is about as far as the consensus goes.

    There is no real programme for sex education in schools despite a 10-year discussion in government, a fact which incenses many campaigners.

    "A 14-year-old receives no sex education but he can already be convicted for the crime of rape," says Dr Grebesheva.

    'Widespread ignorance'

    As it happens, the number of abortions has been falling in recent years, from a peak of 4.6 million in 1988 to under 1.8 million last year.

    This suggests that knowledge about and availability of contraception is having some impact on sexual activity.

    But Juliette Engels, the founding director of Moscow's Miramed institute - which runs a programme for single parents and women on low incomes - casts doubt on these figures, saying that half of all abortions are not recorded.

    She is particularly concerned about the problem of pregnancies in orphanages, where children often live through puberty together without any proper adult supervision. These pregnancies are often not known about until after 12 weeks.

    So the resolution may have more of an impact than some might think.

    But the underlying problem, she suggests, is that the government simply lacks the will to tackle the broader issues.

    "Russia has every resource it needs to address social problems, if it wants to survive," she said.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3093152.stm
    "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

  • #2
    13 abortions for every 10 births!!!!

    About time they stopped the slaughter. That is absolutely disguisting. And I thought Australia was bad. :(
    SWANSEA 'TILL I DIE! - CARN THE CROWS!

    Rule Britannia, No Surrender

    Staff Cadet in the Australian Army Reserve.

    Soli Deo Gloria

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Ziska
      13 abortions for every 10 births!!!!

      About time they stopped the slaughter. That is absolutely disguisting. And I thought Australia was bad. :(
      Russia's fertility rate is 1.3 children per woman, if all woman carried through with their pregnancies, it would be at least 2.7 children per woman.
      "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

      Comment


      • #4
        So teach them to use condoms. It has to be cheaper than all these abortions. The doctors should be out healing the sick, not fixing up peoples bad planning.

        I oppose abortion strongly on a religious platform, but anyway you look at it, this is a bad thing.
        SWANSEA 'TILL I DIE! - CARN THE CROWS!

        Rule Britannia, No Surrender

        Staff Cadet in the Australian Army Reserve.

        Soli Deo Gloria

        Comment


        • #5
          Answer me this.

          What makes a human life precious?

          Last edited by Praxus; 24 Sep 03,, 20:42.

          Comment


          • #6
            13 terminations for every 10 live births
            That pretty sick.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Praxus
              Answer me this.

              What makes a human life precious?
              Humans were created by God.

              Comment


              • #8
                That of course is your opnion.

                Comment


                • #9
                  gosh, what a buncha cr@p in 21st century. Whats the problem in abortion?
                  that too when the parents are willing !!
                  Yes its a bad, palnning at its worst, but if they decide they dont want it, they have every right to abort it. Coz its the women thats gonna suffer that pain for 10 months and then a life or death thing during the childs birth.

                  But the Govt can enforce when to abort, i.e the time period, so that women wont die bcoz of abortion.

                  Fine, God created man, did God instructed these men to kill 20 million people in last 45 years ?? talk about morality and abortion in the age of nukes!
                  A grain of wheat eclipsed the sun of Adam !!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Jay
                    gosh, what a buncha cr@p in 21st century. Whats the problem in abortion?
                    that too when the parents are willing !!
                    Yes its a bad, palnning at its worst, but if they decide they dont want it, they have every right to abort it. Coz its the women thats gonna suffer that pain for 10 months and then a life or death thing during the childs birth.

                    But the Govt can enforce when to abort, i.e the time period, so that women wont die bcoz of abortion.

                    Fine, God created man, did God instructed these men to kill 20 million people in last 45 years ?? talk about morality and abortion in the age of nukes!
                    So if something causes you pain you should kill it. What if the child is born then you have to raise it, but if that gets tiring just kill the kid right?

                    All the more important to talk about morality now so people never use nukes.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Good thing for you your mum never had an abortion...
                      SWANSEA 'TILL I DIE! - CARN THE CROWS!

                      Rule Britannia, No Surrender

                      Staff Cadet in the Australian Army Reserve.

                      Soli Deo Gloria

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Jay,

                        A mother with 8 children comes to you asking for your advice. 3 are deaf, 2 are blind, 1 is mentally retarded. She has Syphilis. Would you advise her to get the abortion or not?

                        Please, only Jay answer this question. The reason will become apparent after he answers.
                        Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

                        Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          BR,
                          I cannot seriously advice a woman in deciding the life of her child. I dont see the moral authority to do so.

                          Say if its my family, my wife I wud make sure that regardless of what it is, i wont get more than 2 children. If both of em are deaf and blind i WILL very well adopt a child.

                          Ziska,
                          Rather than giving pot shots, can u think it rational? what if the mother is not in a position to raise her kid? she can drop her kid on the roads so that the kid can be on its own?
                          May be u guys ought to have a dosage of reality. visit a sub continent nation or China. the decision wud be too apparent.
                          So a mother and father who decide that they cannot raise the kid based on economic or medical problems they can abort it.

                          Its approved in my country, culture and even in my religion.

                          May be USA, Australia or Israel will think about it when you guys reach a population of 1 billion and when 20% of your population lives in poverty and mal-nutrition.
                          A grain of wheat eclipsed the sun of Adam !!

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Jay, I respect that answer, but if you absolutely had to give a yes or no answer, what would you say?
                            Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

                            Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Jay
                              BR,
                              I cannot seriously advice a woman in deciding the life of her child. I dont see the moral authority to do so.

                              Say if its my family, my wife I wud make sure that regardless of what it is, i wont get more than 2 children. If both of em are deaf and blind i WILL very well adopt a child.

                              Ziska,
                              Rather than giving pot shots, can u think it rational? what if the mother is not in a position to raise her kid? she can drop her kid on the roads so that the kid can be on its own?
                              May be u guys ought to have a dosage of reality. visit a sub continent nation or China. the decision wud be too apparent.
                              So a mother and father who decide that they cannot raise the kid based on economic or medical problems they can abort it.

                              Its approved in my country, culture and even in my religion.

                              May be USA, Australia or Israel will think about it when you guys reach a population of 1 billion and when 20% of your population lives in poverty and mal-nutrition.
                              Does it ever occur to these pro-abortion people that if these poor malnourished people didn't go around screwing every fifth person they saw on the street that they wouldn't need to have an abortion. If you can take care of a kid don't have sex. Is that really that hard?


                              So a mother and father who decide that they cannot raise the kid based on economic or medical problems they can abort it.
                              If you were that kid would you rather grow up poor or not grow up at all?

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X