Most of Russians think that women must have right to abortion, and the abortion should not be publicly condemned. The initiative to exclude abortion from the Mandatory Medical Insurance is not supported by the population.
MOSCOW, October 25, 2016. Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) presents the data of the survey describing the attitudes of Russians towards induced termination of pregnancy and an initiative to ban abortions.
The question concerning the induced termination of pregnancy does not seem to be abstract - most of Russian women are concerned: every tenth female respondent (9%) reports to have had an abortion; a further 57% have friends who have done that (this share among men is 29%).
The basic reason behind the abortion decision is poor well-being (51%); the share of those who have experienced that or found out about this problem from friends is twice as high as the remainder (62% versus 39%). Personal choice not to have children or to raise children without husband is mentioned by every tenth respondent (11% and 10%, respectively).
Only 4% of respondents consider the abortion is unacceptable under any circumstances; whereas an overwhelming majority of Russians believe that women must have personal choice on induced abortion. A threat to a woman’s life or health is the basic reason behind the abortion decision (60%). Other reasons involve sexual violence (46%), poverty (37%), young age (minors) (26%), having three or more children (22%), et cet.
The initiative to exclude abortion from the Mandatory Medical Insurance system is not supported by the public: 70% oppose the idea (21% support it). The initiative to completely ban the induced abortion among Russian women is also not supported: 72% think it is impossible (18% agree; 26% of men and 12% of women). Those who are loyal to these initiatives are men and young respondents, rather than women and elderly respondents. Possible consequences the ban on abortion might have are mainly negative: they include an increase in illegal abortions’ rates (31%), increases in the number of homeless children (13%) and death rate (11%), poverty (11%), et cet.
VCIOM survey was conducted on October 15-16, 2016, in 130 settlements, 46 regions and 9 federal districts of Russia. Sample size was 1600 persons. The survey was conducted with multi-stage stratified sample based on general rule of walking and quotas at the final selection stage; the sample is representative of the Russian population aged 18 and over according to sex, age, education, type of settlement. The margin of error (taking into account the design effect) with 95% confidence interval does not exceed 3.5%. The survey method is community-based structured face-to-face interviews. Apart from the margin of error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the field work should be taken into account.
Anything can happen in life. Can you tell us if there is anyone among your female friends who had an abortion? (closed-ended question, one answer, %) | |||
| Women | Men | |
Yes, there are | 57 | 29 | |
No, there are not | 21 | 53 | |
I did it/my wife/girlfriend did it | 9 | 4 | |
I do not want to answer this question | 11 | 10 | |
Don’t know | 2 | 4 | |
In your opinion, why do women have abortions? Name three reasons, please. (open-ended question, not more than three answers, %) | |||
| Total respondents | Those who have such friends or faced the abortion themselves | Those who do not have friends who faced the abortion |
Poverty/low living standards | 51 | 62 | 39 |
Desire not to have children | 11 | 13 | 8 |
Lack of husband / child’s father | 10 | 13 | 7 |
Irresponsibility/immorality/stupidity | 9 | 7 | 12 |
Unexpected pregnancy | 9 | 13 | 5 |
Mother’s state of health / child’s health | 6 | 8 | 4 |
Age | 5 | 7 | 4 |
Anxiety about children’s future | 5 | 6 | 3 |
Difficult situation in life | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Lack of protection from the state | 4 | 4 | 3 |
Personal reasons | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Relatives’ pressure | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Low readiness to be a mother | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Other | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Don’t know | 21 | 9 | 33 |
In your opinion, under what circumstances should women have a choice to terminate pregnancy (have an abortion)? (closed-ended question, any number of answers, %) | |||
| 2015 | 2016 | |
If something threatens her health or other medical grounds | 57 | 60 | |
Woman was sexually abused | 39 | 46 | |
Family is in difficult financial situation, poor | 24 | 37 | |
Any circumstances, if woman wants it | 34 | 28 | |
If the woman is minor | 20 | 26 | |
Woman has three or more children | 19 | 22 | |
Single-parent family; child’s father died or left | 14 | 19 | |
Child’s father insists on abortion | 6 | 10 | |
Other | 2 | 3 | |
No circumstances, abortions are unacceptable | 5 | 4 | |
Don’t know | 5 | 6 | |
Today if a woman wants to terminate a pregnancy, this is available for free in a public hospital under the Mandatory Medical Insurance. There is an initiative to exclude abortions from this system to make them payable. What is your attitude towards that? (closed-ended question, one answer, %) | |||
| 2015 | 2016 | |
I definitely support the initiative | 11 | 9 | |
I am likely to support the initiative | 14 | 12 | |
I am likely not to support the initiative | 19 | 19 | |
Definitely not to support the initiative | 40 | 51 | |
Don’t know | 16 | 9 | |
In the USSR there was an abortion law. In your opinion, is it important to ban abortions in Russia? (closed-ended question, one answer, %) | |||
| 2015 | 2016 | |
Likely to ban abortions | 18 | 18 | |
Likely not to ban abortions | 69 | 72 | |
Don’t know | 13 | 10 | |
What consequences might a complete ban on abortions have in Russia? (open-ended question, any number of answers %) | |
| Total respondents |
Illegal abortions | 31 |
Left-behind children/ homeless children | 13 |
Demographic increase / overpopulation | 11 |
Death rate increase | 11 |
Poverty | 8 |
Ill children will be born | 3 |
People will be more cautious | 2 |
Demographic decline (“birth rate will be decreased because women will be afraid of being pregnant”) | 2 |
Women’s health will be harmed | 2 |
Negative ones | 2 |
Protests/rallies | 1 |
Other | 3 |
None | 1 |
Don’t know | 28 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!