Russia
outlaws abortion ads
Published time:
November 25, 2013 14:05
Russia Today online website
The article talks about Vladimir Putin signing a law that
makes advertising abortions illegal. The law put in place also makes free
samples that contain narcotic or psychotropic substances illegal, “rises the
age of voluntary consent for illegal drug tests from 16 to 18 years” and raises
the punishment on practicing illegal folk medicine. But the center of this
article is the banning of abortion advertising, because it is a small
restriction of choice and social rights. Policy makers are trying to implement
laws that will increase Russia’s fertility rate, but conservatives say that
abortion is to be blamed for Russia “dwindling population” and therefore they
try to implement laws like these. Conservatives like the church warren people
that abortions are not just unethical but is also the reason why Russia’s
population will be wiped out. In Russia in the past five years the number of
abortions has fallen by a quarter, but Russia still has over a million
abortions a year as reported by Deputy Health Minister Tatyana Yakovleva. By
looking at the number of abortions per year and the children that those aborted
children will have it is not crazy to suggest that by making abortions illegal
and not only their adverting may slow down or even solve Russia’s decreasing
population. This was not mentioned in the article but it is a suggestion when
the topic of abortion and decreasing in population is mentioned. Because if Russia
was to ban abortions because of the deceasing in population. Then they would
have to do it sooner than later. Because considering that each year there are
less and less people and possibly because of that less and less abortions, you
have to consider that if people do stop having abortions it will take years
till those kids reach reproductive age. It just suggests that economically
developed countries might have to take extreme, unmoral and non-liberal decisions
to control their population issue, similarly to Chinese one child policy. Soon
the desperate times will call for desperate measures.
This issue exist in the U.S to some extent. There are people who are Pro-Life and Pro-choice. The population issue that Russia faces is not comparable, because the states do not really have that issue, but the conservatives exploiting a social problem to have their way is definitely there.
ReplyDeleteI think this should be viewed from an ethical lens. In my opinion every woman should be able to make dissensions about her physical health. Perhaps I am biased( I am Pro-Choice after all) but I do not think it is difficult to recognized the more morally sound option....
The article title somewhat shows a shift in thinking in Russia where they are banning advertisement of abortions. This means that the public are changing their idea of the use and ethicality of abortions. Russia is facing a population crash, and banning abortions may be a good way to begin but changing the mindset of the people will take longer. Some view abortion as a form of birth control unfortunately, and it's been made too easy to obtain. Even the night after pill is a form of abortion. Although I also disagree with this, it is reality in fact that women have choices, but being proactive in preventing pregnancies should be the first and foremost important in educating and changing attitudes in Russia and around the world.
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