750,000 abortions performed in Russia annually, only one-fifth for medical reasons

Moscow on April 3, Interfax-Only 20% of all abortions in Russia are performed due to health problems, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said. “I have to say that over 750,000 terminations of pregnancy are registered annually, and only a fifth of them is performed for medical reasons,” Golikova said at a parliamentary hour meeting in the State Duma. Determining the reasons that make women have abortions is “another way to help increase the birth rate,” she said. The potential for increasing the birthrate in the government is also seen in the regions of the Urals and Siberia because the proportion of women of reproductive age there is higher than in Russia in general, she said. The deputy Prime Minister earlier said the death rate had increased almost in one-third of Russia’s regions in 2018.