Lawmakers in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region voted Thursday to outlaw the act of “coercing” women into having an abortion.
The bill defines “coercion” as persuasion, bribery, deceit or blackmail but exempts medical and social workers who inform women about pregnancy risks.
“Our priority is to create a safe environment for families and the value of having many children,” the Krasnoyarsk legislative assembly said.
Regional prosecutor Roman Tyutyunnik proposed fines ranging from 3,000 rubles ($34) to 50,000 rubles ($570) for violations, the 7x7 regional news outlet reported.
Krasnoyarsk’s regional parliament passed the bill in its second of three readings. If fully adopted, Krasnoyarsk would become the 18th Russian region to implement such a ban, according to the women’s issues news website Kosa Media.
Meanwhile, hundreds of private clinics across 70 Russian regions have stopped offering abortion services in what officials call a “voluntary” initiative backed by Russia’s Health Ministry.
Concerns over reproductive rights in Russia have grown as the government pushes policies to boost birth rates amid a demographic crisis driven by an aging population, Covid-19 deaths, mass emigration and the war in Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin has urged Russian women to give birth while warning officials against imposing strict legal limits on abortion.
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