BRING BACK STALIN

Russian Abortion Rate Declines (MARA D. BELLABY Jul 28, 2003, Associated Press)

Abortion, once the country's primary means of birth control, is in steady decline in post-Soviet Russia, but the rate is still staggering: For every 10 births there are about 13 abortions, compared with roughly three in the United States. [...]

The Russian Health Ministry has proposed scaling back the liberal policy whereby women can cite a wide range of non-medical reasons - being unmarried, poor, already raising three kids - to obtain an abortion well into the second trimester of pregnancy.

The new proposal would still guarantee abortions in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy to anyone. But after that, most women - including rape victims - would be turned away.

"Abortion should never in any society be the primary method of birth control," said Vladimir Kulakov, a leading gynecologist and head of the Scientific Center for Obstetrics and Gynecology, linked to the women's clinic where Abakarova works. [...]

Four years of economic growth have taken some of the financial bite out of starting a family. Birth rates are climbing, albeit slowly. Last year, there were 9.8 births for every 1,000 people compared to 9.1 the year before, according to government statistics.

But demographers still predict that by 2050, the world's largest country will have a population comparable to just over a quarter of the United States'.

Gee, you mean the fertility rate really is affected by abortion rates? Posted by Orrin Judd at August 8, 2003 7:25 PM