Activists in Nizhny Novgorod have initiated a signature campaign against the prohibition of abortions in private clinics, as reported by NewsNN on November 23.
City residents have endorsed a collective letter addressed to Governor Gleb Nikitin, expressing their disapproval of a proposed law that would ban abortions in private healthcare facilities. Instead, activists propose that the governor assess the safety measures associated with abortions in both public and private clinics. NewsNN reports that the collection of signatures is ongoing.
On November 22, local officials approved in the first reading a draft law that would prohibit abortions in private clinics. Governor Gleb Nikitin also suggested reducing the permissible timeframe for abortions from 12 weeks to 8.
According to BBC News Russian, on November 8, Patriarch Kirill urged the Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin to legislatively prohibit abortions in private clinics. This request is currently under consideration. Private clinics in the Kursk region and Tatarstan have already refused to perform abortions. The Ministry of Health in Crimea announced that local hospitals will also cease to provide abortion services, while the Kaliningrad authorities are exploring similar legislation. In response, women from the Kaliningrad region have launched a petition against the law, gathering over 28 thousand signatures.
