The Russian Orthodox Church plans to continue discussing the issue of excluding abortion from the compulsory medical insurance system

Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church (Russian Orthodox Church) are going to continue a wide discussion of the exclusion of abortion from the compulsory medical insurance system (compulsory medical insurance). This was stated by the deputy chairman of the Synodal Department for the relationship between the Church with the Society and the Media of Vakhtang Kipshidze.

On Monday, February 6, the expert group of the Russian public initiative (swarm) in the conclusion on the consideration of the petition to withdraw abortion from the compulsory medical insurance system that has collected more than 100 thousand signatures, said that such a measure would not solve problems associated with supporting the birth rate and preservation of pregnancy. Experts proposed comprehensively approach the issue.

As Kipshidze explained, the Russian Orthodox Church is ready to continue the dialogue on the problem, despite the fact that when drawing up an expert opinion, her wishes were not taken into account. The Russian Orthodox Church proceeds from the fact that "an affordable abortion remains an unconditional evil for Russian society, casts into question the high value and inviolability of human life, undermines the family foundations of our society, threatens the happiness of women and men," emphasized the deputy chairman of the synodal department. He recalled that the expert opinion does not have mandatory legal force, which means that the issue is not closed.

We will remind, earlier a petition to withdraw abortion from the compulsory medical insurance system, posted on the ROI website, collected more than 100 thousand signatures necessary for consideration by the open government. The authors of the initiative proposed to leave in the list of services of the compulsory medical insurance only abortion for medical reasons or in the case of a violent conception.

On December 8, 2016, the petition was rejected by experts from the federal level working group. To finalize the conclusion, an expert working group was created with the participation of members of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, representatives of the Ministry of Health and the Russian Orthodox Church, which came to the conclusion that in order to increase the efficiency of abortion in Russia, it is necessary to take comprehensive measures - including conducting advisory and educational work with women, tightening responsibility for violation of the procedure for abortion and directing the FMS intended for abortion, for conducting measures to conduct measures to carry out measures to carry out measures to carry out measures to carry out measures to carry out measures Preservation of pregnancy.

Experts also proposed organizing a wide discussion of the consequences and possible risks of excluding abortions from the compulsory medical insurance system with the involvement of representatives of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, traditional faiths of the Russian Federation, insurance medical organizations, scientific and public organizations, experts in various fields.

The Coordinating Council under the Government on the implementation of the concept of state family policy of the Russian Federation until 2025 is recommended to create a working group with the participation of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance, Roszdravnadzor, the FAS, the General Prosecutor's Office and the Federal Antimonopoly Service. The result of the group’s work may be the preparation of changes to regulatory legal acts aimed at reducing the number of abortions, concluded. In turn, the State Duma is recommended to take into account the conclusion of the expert group when working on the relevant bills.

Recall that the Russian Orthodox Church defends the idea of ​​excluding abortion from the compulsory medical insurance system. In September 2016, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill signed a petition of the “For Life” movement with an appeal to ban abortion in the Russian Federation. The head of the synodal department of external church ties joined the Primate, Metropolitan Ilarion, Bishop Yegoryevsky Tikhon (Shevkunov) , who is considered the confessor of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, several State Duma deputies, actors and athletes. The ban on abortion was supported by Anna Kuznetsova, authorized by the President of Russia for the Rights of the Child.

Meanwhile, the vast majority of Russian citizens have a different opinion. According to sociologists, only 18% of citizens advocate for the ban on abortion in Russia, and 70% do not support the initiative to exclude abortions from the compulsory medical insurance system.