Gavriil Grigorov/AP
Top Russian authorities are restricting abortion access, calling the procedure a "disaster."
It comes amid the state's concerns over population growth, particularly where it impacts military recruiting, according to the BBC. Some one in three women claim to have gotten the procedure, and more than 500,000 pregnancies were terminated in 2022, the outlet reported.
Patriarch Kirill, the head of the highly influential Russian Orthodox Church, is leading the charge.
"As a member of the clergy, I testify that an abortion is a disaster and a tragedy for the woman [and] those close to her," Kirill said in January, per the BBC.
The church has close ties to the Kremlin, and Kirill has been a key supporter of President Vladimir Putin.
While Russia's population leans male for births up to 14 years old, females outpace males ages 15 and up. Over 65% of the population is aged 15 to 64, and there are 3 million more women than men in that age bracket, according to the 2023 data from the Central Intelligence Agency.
The total population of 144 million stands at 2 million less than it did in 2001 when Putin came to power, the BBC reported. In 2022, over 500,000 Russian pregnancies were terminated compared to 1.3 million live births, the outlet reported.
Putin sees it as "an acute problem," per the BBC. Kirill says anti-abortion policies are the solution.
"The population can be increased as if by waving a magic wand: if we solve this problem and learn how to dissuade women from having abortions, statistics will go up immediately," Kirill said, per the BBC.
The patriarch's policies of dissuasion include doctors telling pregnant teenagers to keep their child "because they are practically from the same generation," the BBC reported. If a woman is single, doctors are to tell the pregnant patient that "having a child is no obstacle to finding a life partner."
Authorities are also restricting the sale of medication used in medical abortions – over the protests of women's groups who say such moves will cause the number of illegal and botched abortions to surge.
"Officials, ultra-right politicians and the church are actively forcing women and girls to give birth to unwanted children," the Urals Feminist Movement group said, according to the BBC.
