A new directive of the Russian Ministry of Health recommends sending women who do not want to have children to psychologists, to make them change their minds, a measure that would be aimed at combating the demographic crisis in the country, reports AFP.
Russia's declining birth rate has been one of President Vladimir Putin's main concerns since he came to power 25 years ago. And since the launch, in February 2022, of the military offensive against Ukraine, where hundreds of thousands of young Russians were sent, this problem has worsened.
The Russian Ministry of Health now recommends that doctors send women who do not want to have children “to a consultation with a psychologist, with the aim of forming a positive attitude towards motherhood”, according to the text of the document consulted by AFP on Thursday.
These recommendations were approved at the end of February, but were only made public this week by the media.
According to the document, doctors must also invite women between the ages of 18 and 49 to annual medical consultations aimed at “assessing their reproductive health”.
These recommendations also provide for similar consultations for men of the same age, but only to assess their physical health, without resorting to psychologists.
The Kremlin leader is portraying Russia's shrinking population as a matter of national survival, warning in 2024 that Russia would face “extinction” if it does not raise its birth rate.
Russia's birth rate is at its lowest level in 200 years, at about 1.4 children per woman, well below the 2.1 threshold that demographers consider necessary to stabilize the population.
In recent years, Moscow has tightened abortion laws and passed laws banning so-called “child-free propaganda.” Large families are glorified in the media and benefit from a multitude of financial and social benefits granted by the state.
