Russian court imposes first fine for ‘inducement’ to abortion

A court in the central Russian city of Saransk has issued what is believed to be the country’s first fine for “inducement” to an abortion, the pro-life Women for Life Foundation reported on Monday.

The fine of 5,000 rubles (€54) was issued on 8 December to a local man who suggested his then partner terminate her pregnancy. The ruling was discovered by independent news outlet Mediazona on the website of the justice department of the republic of Mordovia, of which Saransk is the capital.

The foundation said that the woman, whom it identified only as Anastasia, announced that she was pregnant to her partner, who said that he was not ready to have children yet and offered to pay for an abortion. His name was not disclosed.

Anastasia chose not to terminate the pregnancy and promptly cut off all communication with her former partner. The foundation said the man’s suggestion had had a “negative impact” on Anastasia’s emotional state, after which she turned to Women for Life for legal and psychological assistance.

Anastasia gave birth to twins, whom she named Bogdan and Varvara, in July, the foundation said in a post to mark the event.

Mordovia was the first Russian region to ban “inducement” to abortion in August 2023. Novaya Europe estimates that a similar law is now in force in 30 regions of Russia, and in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, as part of a wider campaign to discourage childlessness and reverse negative trends in Russian demography.