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Monday, February 24, 2003Russian health specialists call women like Esipova one of the more lasting legacies of a Soviet health system that for decades viewed abortion as the main form of birth control. According to Vladimir Serov, chief gynecologist at the Health Ministry, abortions are one of the primary causes of infertility in a country that is desperate to raise a plummeting birth rate. About 5 million -- or 13 percent -- of Russian married couples are infertile, and doctors report that diagnoses of infertility are on the rise. In nearly three out of four cases, infertility is attributed to the woman, typically because of complications from one or more abortions, according to Serov and other health experts. ...A study of mid-1990s data by a group of health researchers showed Russia's abortion rate was the fourth-highest of 57 countries, after only Vietnam, Cuba and Romania. "It's a habit, a tradition," said Serov. "It is a result of our low level of medical culture." Russian health and demographics experts say the abortion legacy has created a problem greater than the private trauma of childless couples, because the resulting infertility contributes to a low birth rate. That trend and a soaring death rate are helping reduce Russia's population at a rapid rate. U.N. population experts predict that in 50 years Russia will be the world's 17th-most populous country; it is now the sixth. Projections show Russia will lose more than a quarter of its population, dropping from 143 million people to 104 million by 2050. Like other countries in Europe, Russia has been experiencing a falling fertility rate for most of the last half-century. It is now the sixth-lowest in the world, according to U.N. studies. On average, Russian women now bear just more than one child. ....A study in 1994 found that the average Russian woman had three abortions by the end of her child-bearing years. After Abortion points out that most pro-abortion sites claim that there is no link between abortion and infertility. In truth, there may some complicating factors in the Russian cases. Because of their poverty, they may use less sophisticated techniques and equipment than in the States, which means that there may be more trauma to the uterine wall, and thus more scarring and subsequent infertility. They may also reuse instruments and operate under less sterile conditions, increasing the likelihood of infections. Still, abortion does involve scraping the uterine wall, and the more procedures you have, the more scarring there’s likely to be, and hence more infertility. And an average of three abortions per woman is awfully high. posted by Sydney on 2/24/2003 06:11:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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