Pregnant women in maternity clinic. Photo: social media
A magistrate in the Vologda region of northwestern Russia has fined the acting chief physician of a maternity hospital 15,000 rubles (€160) for refusing a local woman an abortion, the regional courts’ press service said on Monday.
According to the court, a Vologda woman had inquired at an antenatal clinic about an abortion in February. She was sent to the Vologda city maternity hospital, where the unnamed doctor refused her request. The doctor, who pleaded not guilty to the charge, saying she had refused based on instructions from more senior management, was found guilty of a misdemeanour and issued the fine.
“They refused me an abortion, referring to a regional Health Ministry oral directive ... and moral and religious considerations,” the press statement read, citing the woman and case materials. The woman then went to the neighbouring Yaroslavl region, where the abortion was carried out.
In early February, Vologda region Governor Georgy Filimonov proposed the introduction of a blanket ban on abortion in the region, a first in Russia, as part of his campaign to stop the depopulation of the Russian North. Filimonov, one of Russia’s most controversial governors, also promised financial incentives to clinics that refused to carry out abortions.
Individual clinics in the region then began refusing women abortions. According to Filimonov, the number of abortions in the region fell to 32 in the first quarter of 2025, compared to 420 in the same period last year.
On 14 April, the Vologda region Prosecutor’s Office declared the refusal by six clinics to conduct abortions illegal. The department identified seven violations of the law in total — the six refusals and one unjustified referral to another medical institution, leading to two misdemeanour cases, with doctors accused of denying women medical treatment risking fines. Regional prosecutors also issued 19 warnings to medical clinics across the Vologda region.
