What can the ban on abortion in Ukraine lead to?

Another initiative to ban abortions could lead to a sharp increase in maternal mortality, "abortion tourism" and clandestine abortions, according to DW experts.

---

The public in Ukraine continues to discuss a legislative initiative to ban abortions at the woman's request. The project was registered in parliament in late March.

Currently, more than 100,000 abortions per year are registered in Ukraine. About half of them - not on medical grounds, but at the request of the woman. For comparison, ten years ago 500,000 abortions were recorded. And in 1990 the number of abortions in Ukraine exceeded one million. There is no tendency to sharply increase this indicator now, but the problem is still urgent, says Vyacheslav Kaminsky, MD, chairman of the executive committee of the Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Ukraine.

"It is impossible to ban it, because we will immediately get an increase in maternal mortality rates, worsening access to qualified medical care. Romania has already banned abortions, and maternal mortality rates have skyrocketed. They were 15-20 times higher than in neighboring countries," - Kaminsky emphasizes.

"Abortion tourism"

Abortion legislation in Poland is one of the strictest in the EU. In fact, abortion, with some exceptions, is allowed only if the mother's life is threatened. Due to the ban, up to 100,000 illegal abortions are performed in Poland every year. In addition, the so-called "abortion tourism" is widespread. Wealthier women go to Germany to terminate their pregnancies, and poorer women go to Ukraine.

"Our women will not go to Germany. They will look for a grandmother, a neighbor, and it will happen in the kitchen, bathroom, basement or field. They will risk their lives very much. Today in Ukraine, 80 percent of women who give birth are those who gives birth for the first time. And with this approach it will be the last time ", - warns Kaminsky.

The ban on abortion will not be able to drastically reduce their number, but only put the problem in the shadows, said the program director of the Women's Consortium of Ukraine Vira Porovska, because it will increase the number of clandestine abortions.

"Not all doctors will agree. And those who agree are usually not very competent. The risks to women's health will increase many times over. The largest number of abortions in families in the village, when a woman already has several children and no longer wants "This is the main group that complements the statistics. The state of medicine in the villages is well known," Porovska said.

Draft law

Last week, the Verkhovna Rada registered a bill restricting the conduct of abortions. Its author is Dmytro Golubov, a People's Deputy from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction. He proposes to remove the provision of the Civil Code of Ukraine that abortion up to twelve weeks can be carried out at the request of the woman. Instead, parliamentarians want to allow abortions only if the pregnancy directly threatens the life of the pregnant woman, if there are medical indications of fetal pathology incompatible with the life of the child after birth, and if the conception was due to rape.

"Unfortunately, Ukraine continues to register a negative indicator of natural population growth, and one of the main reasons for this state of affairs is abortion," Golubov said in an explanatory note to the bill.

However, according to experts, a woman's right to decide whether to terminate a pregnancy or not does not affect demographic problems. After all, so few abortions are performed in Ukraine that even their complete ban will not increase the birth rate. The main reasons can only be moral and religious arguments.

Distract or advertise?

There are opinions in the press that the violation of the topic of abortion, as well as the language issue, is done intentionally to divert attention from the more serious problems in Ukraine.

"As for the language issue and quotas, I am convinced that this is not a distraction, but a very important issue that needed to be addressed, and it was the will of much of civil society. As for abortion, I do not support these ideas and I am surprised that this topic "It's a conspiracy and speculation. We just need to explain whether it's a matter of time, not guess," said Natalia Detector Media, editor-in-chief. Ligachova.

The issue of banning abortions is regularly raised in the Verkhovna Rada every few years. For example, in 2013 the bill on the same occasion was initiated by VO "Svoboda".

"This question flares up when people want to advertise, when there are no other ways to rise to the wave of cheap popularity. And an unknown MP immediately becomes the hero of the day. This is a way of self-publicity ", - Vyacheslav Kaminsky, the chairman of the executive committee of the Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Ukraine, is convinced.

According to experts, in order to reduce the number of abortions, it is necessary not to ban them, but to engage in educational work, increase the level of contraceptive and general sexual culture, real social guarantees from the state are needed so that women are not afraid to become mothers.