Abortion Tourism on the Rise in Russia as Regions Adopt Different Policies

Executive Summary:

• The Kremlin’s decision to restrict and, in some cases, ban abortions by region rather than country-wide is leading to abortion tourism, in which women travel from one region where it is difficult to terminate pregnancies to another where it is accessible.
• Abortion tourism undercuts the Kremlin’s ongoing efforts to boost the Russian birth rate and reverse the precipitous decline in the Russian population, particularly so that males are available in the future to serve as soldiers.
• The Kremlin’s refusal to claim responsibility and face public reaction to a country-wide abortion ban by instead delegating to the regions threatens to backfire on the regime’s authority.

The Russian government has been actively seeking to reduce the number of abortions in Russia as it faces increasing demographic problems. Despite the constitutional right to abortion and the decline of abortion operations given improved birth control methods, Moscow has banned pro-choice propaganda and is supporting regional governments’ anti-abortion laws (Window on Eurasia, October 18,  December 21, 2024; Garant.ru; ConsultantPlus, accessed March 12). Moscow has not instilled a country-wide abortion ban, a move that would spark criticism in politically-sensitive and sizable population centers such as Moscow and St. Petersburg. Instead of a ban, the government has supported actions by federal subjects to restrict access to abortions, ensuring a difficult process that varies across the regions.

This array of regulations has caused abortions to be difficult to access in some regions and easier in others. This in turn has led to the emergence and growth of abortion tourism as women travel from abortion-restricted regions to others, or even abroad, where it is easier to access (Novaya Gazeta Europe, February 7; Veter, March 6). Using this approach, the Kremlin seeks to retain power while shifting responsibility for these restrictions onto individual regions, much as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic (see EDM, April 27, 2020). Such an approach, however, may backfire by lessening Moscow’s authority and demonstrating to citizens that laws can be bypassed.

In December 2023, a private clinic abortion prohibition bill was proposed to the State Duma, but the Parliamentary Committee on Health did not support it. Many private clinics, however, have refused to perform abortions, forcing women to turn to government clinics with long wait-times and where staff reportedly pressure women to continue their pregnancy. Although these clinics were said to have voluntarily refused service, it is suspected that it was done under pressure from the authorities (Radio Svoboda, March 9, 2024).

The proposal of a full abortion ban in Vologda Oblast, about 400 miles east of St Petersburg, has attracted particular attention. Georgy Filimonov, governor of Vologda Oblast, is pushing for a regional law that would ban all abortions, excluding in the cases of medical complications or rape (Novaya Gazeta Europe, February 7). This display of loyalty to the Kremlin, rather than to the Russian constitution and Russian law, is sending a chill through the region. Even if such a law is adopted, which is improbable given its unpopularity, it is unlikely to survive any subsequent court challenges.

Irina Faynman, an abortion rights activist, founder of the Foundation for Emergency Contraception, and author of the Telegram channel “Whispers of the Blood”, is certain no such law will ever pass at the federal level because it would be so unpopular (Russian Feminist Association “SHE”, July 22, 2023; T.me/shorokhi_krovi, accessed March 12). Faynman argues that Moscow is attempting to achieve the same ends by forcing the regions one by one to introduce such measures (Novaya Gazeta Europe, March 7). Unsurprisingly, under these circumstances, other regional heads seek to continue the approach the Putin regime has long maintained and are looking to adopt regulations in a move to shift the responsibility to hospitals, doctors, and municipalities (Mel, March 8).

According to Faynman, some women who are being refused requests for abortions at clinics in Vologda Oblast are now travelling to neighboring Yaroslavl Oblast where there are no such restrictions. At present, this is the easiest option as they can travel there by local train or bus for relatively little money. The total number of women doing so is unknown, she acknowledges, but the hospitals in Yaroslavl are now reporting overcrowding in their obstetrician-gynecologist (OB-GYN) departments. They may soon need to turn women away, not because their region has banned abortion but because there simply are not enough doctors and nurses to accommodate the number of procedures (Novaya Gazeta Europe, March 7). Due to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s healthcare optimization project, which has cut the number of hospitals and doctors throughout Russia over the last decade, this will be a growing problem (Novyye Izvestiya, May 19, 2024; Novaya Gazeta Kazakhstan, September 16, 2024).

The phenomenon of Russian women traveling for abortions has grown to the point that Russians refer to it as “abortion tourism,” Faynman says (Novaya Gazeta Europe, March 7). This term is not unique to Russia and has been used in places such as the United States for some time. The term abortion tourism gained popularity in 2023 as more and more women travelled from region to region for abortions. Faynman states that the routes that have attracted the most attention are those from Karelia, Kursk, and Kaliningrad to Moscow and St. Petersburg. While most Russian abortion tourism remains within the borders of the country, Faynman says, an increasing number of women are travelling to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan for medical procedures. Those countries provide good services in this regard and are not expensive for the Russian women who need them (Novaya Gazeta Europe, March 7). 

Faynman adds that she and other activists are currently forming groups to educate women on their rights and to access abortions when needed (Novaya Gazeta Europe, March 7). The Russian government, however, may counter this by charging them with promoting abortion, something now illegal country-wide, or otherwise seek to suppress their activities (Verstka, March 10). In this situation, she says Russian women should not continue to count on being able to access the morning-after pill, as many have in recent years, but rather should instead practice safe sex to avoid being at the mercy of Kremlin policies (Novyye Izvestiya, November 28, 2024; Novaya Gazeta Europe, March 7). Abortion tourism is only one of the ways in which Moscow’s efforts to restrict or even ban abortions are backfiring. Russian sociologists claim that such moves will do little to nothing to boost the birthrate (Window on Eurasia, February 16). More seriously, however, many Russian women will turn to illegal abortion providers at great risk to their health and lives (Yesli Byt’ Tochnym, July 28, 2023).

This latest Kremlin tactic is likely to exacerbate relations between the regions and the center, highlighting how the Kremlin seeks to protect itself by not imposing such restrictions on women in Moscow and St. Petersburg. This tactic, however, also suggests that if the federal subjects hold the right to restrict or even ban abortions, they should have the ability to make decisions on other issues as well. This will affect not only traditional questions such as restrictions on alcohol sales and consumption, but broader political ones as well (The Insider, November 22, 2024; Nakanune.ru, March 6). Consequently, while banning abortions in certain regions may please Russian conservatives, this move may end by undermining and even threatening Putin’s hold on power, hardly the result he or Russia’s conservatives want (Window on Eurasia, August 7, 2023). The growth of abortion tourism is yet another harbinger of the fall of Putin’s regime.