Traditional Christian Values and Women’s Reproductive Rights in Modern Russia—Is a Consensus Ever Possible?

摘要

Recently in Russia, abortion rights have been attacked. For decades, Russian women could have an elective abortion up to week 12 of pregnancy; between 12 and 22 weeks, medical or social grounds were required for an abortion. In mid 2011, a group of Parliamentarians teamed up with Russian Orthodox Church activists and announced their desire to ban abortions, and the new version of the health law with restricting amendments was introduced: a mandatory waiting period, physicians’ conscientious objection, and limiting the social indications for late-term abortion. Evidence indicates that restricting legislative changes based on “traditional” values could significantly limit women’s reproductive choices (e.g., access to abortion), a setback to women’s rights to exert control over their bodies and their lives. UNTIL RECENTLY, RUSSIAN law guaranteed women freedom in relation to reproduction and reproductive health. However, this right has been slowly but steadily undermined. The forces behind this trend are actively seeking to dramatically change current legislation. In May 2006, in his annual address to the Federal Assembly, President Vladimir Putin made a passionate statement about the dire demographic situation in Russia. He identified Russia’s decreasing population as a possible national security threat and as the most acute issue now facing the country. With total fertility rates estimated to be approximately 1.3 to 1.4 and a rapidly growing aging population, Russia’s demographic trends are similar to those of other European countries. However, unlike other European countries, Russia has far higher mortality rates, particularly among the male population. In Russia, approximately 45% of males who reached age 15 years in 2009 are not expected to survive to age 60 years. The immediate outcome of these troubling trends has been a decline in the size of the population: by 2009, Russia’s population had declined to 143 million, 1 down from 148.6 million in 1993, a loss of 5.6 million people. Other demographic, socioeconomic, and reproductive health indicators for Russia are as follows: Life expectancy at birth (2011): 75.61 for women, 64.04 for men 2 ; Percentage of population younger than 15 years (2010): 15.08 3 ; Population below income poverty line of US $1 per day: 13.3% of the population live below subsistence level (first quarter 2012) 4 ; Health expenditure per capita per year (2010): US $998 4 ; Main ethnic groups (2010): Russian (80.9%), Tatar (3.87%), Ukrainian (1.41%), Bashkir (1.15%), Chuvash (1.05%), Chechen (1.04%), other (