Russia’s Kaliningrad region authorizes protest against introduction of fines for ‘coercing’ women to have abortions

The administration in Russia’s Kaliningrad region has authorized a protest against the introduction of fines for “coercing” women into having abortions, one of the protest’s organizers told the Telegram channel SOTAvision.

The protest is planned to take place on December 16. According to one of the organizers, they plan to gather signatures for a collective letter to the region’s governor Anton Alikhanov, which will demand him to repeal the law on fines for “coercing” abortions.

Daria Yakovleva, founder of the feminist community Feminitive, told independent outlet Verstka that the activists are against fines for “coercing” women to terminate their pregnancy, because “this measure is taken to limit women’s access to adequate information about abortion.” According to Yakovleva, local officials rejected the activists’ applications three times before approving the rally.

Verstka notes that this is the first rally in Russia against punishment for “coercing” women to having abortions.

In November 2023, members of Kaliningrad’s legislative assembly approved a law that would fine “coercing” women to have abortions. “Coercing” is considered to be “an act of inducing an abortion through persuasion and deception.”