Russian doctors receive money for discouraging abortions. In Komi region, 137 children were "saved"

A total of 137 women in the Komi Republic refused to terminate their pregnancies thanks to “incentive payments” to consulting doctors. This was stated by the head of the Ministry of Health of Komi, Irina Kondratyeva, during the presentation of a report in the regional legislative assembly, the State Council, on 21 November.

“This is the work of our obstetricians and gynaecologists, social workers, psychologists, and representatives of the Orthodox Church,” the head of the regional Health Ministry underlined.

“In order to motivate women to preserve their pregnancies, we introduced additional payments for the obstetrician and gynaecologists that manage to convince a woman to keep the child,” Irina Kondratyeva continued. “For the current period of this year, a total of 3.2 million rubles (€28,200) were made in payments. 20 children were born, and 117 more are expected.”

Reportedly, a total of 209 women with thoughts about abortion approached regional hospitals in the period.

The payments mentioned by Kondratyeva are awarded to obstetrician and gynaecologists for dissuading patients from terminating their pregnancies.

A doctor will receive five thousand rubles for convincing a woman to keep the child. The state will pay another twenty-five thousand rubles to the gynaecologist if he or she manages to bring the same patients to childbirth. However, the doctor will receive the money only if the woman gives birth to a "fully healthy child," according to the report from the Health Ministry.

Earlier, the former head of Komi, Vladimir Uyba, commented on the new measures to combat abortions:

"We pay five thousand rubles to a doctor who, through persuasion, and sometimes even tears, manages to change the mind of a woman who already has a ticket for an abortion," said the former governor.

In Russia, at the federal level, the right of every woman to independently make decisions about motherhood is enshrined in laws. Nevertheless, in recent years, the state has increasingly interfered in women's reproductive rights, paying special attention to the youth.

Regional authorities offer measures to stimulate birth rates, such as payments to female students for having children. In Karelia, for example, female students are paid 100,000 rubles (€880) for having a child before the age of 25. The same decision was made in the Vologda region.

In the Perm region, female students were recently forced to take a survey that included questions about intimate life and menstruation, and it was not possible to refuse the survey. Despite the sensitive topics, the test was not anonymous.

The authorities are also organising showing of anti-abortion films. Barents Observer reported on similar propaganda in Arkhangelsk.