“On improving federal legislation to protect women from coercion into induced abortion”: a review of the roundtable discussion at the State Duma of the Russian Federation

Relevance The current demographic situation in Russia indicates depopulation. Among the causes of population decline, along with natural causes of death, crime, and accidents, is a woman's legal right to independently decide whether to become a mother, primarily through abortion. This is performed at the woman's own discretion, but is often motivated by pressure from immediate family members, social circles, and employers to end motherhood.

Purpose: to systematize the positions of the roundtable participants on the current state of regulatory frameworks governing the reproductive rights of citizens, as well as changes to healthcare legislation in terms of limiting the possibility of inducing women to undergo abortion.

Objectives: to gather the opinions of participants in the discussion of the stated issue, and to reflect comments and suggestions on the draft legislative initiative to limit the inducement of women to undergo artificial termination of pregnancy, taking into account current regulatory and legal acts.

Methodology. General scientific and legal methods were used, including description, generalization, systems analysis, comparative legal, functional, sociological, and formal legal methods.

Results. The study has theoretical and practical significance, reflecting trends in changing legislative approaches to regulating women's reproductive rights by limiting their ability to persuade them to terminate a pregnancy. This study helps prevent violations of pregnant women's rights both during the discussion and adoption stages of a bill, as well as afterward.

Conclusion. The introduction of legislative restrictions on the ability to persuade women to abstain from childbearing through abortion is explained by the requests of pregnant women themselves, who are forced to make negative reproductive choices against their will during periods of emotional instability. This study aims to protect their rights, ensure demographic security, and achieve national development goals by increasing Russia's population.