Svoboda faction deputies have proposed banning abortions in Ukraine and introducing criminal liability for abortions, apart from in cases envisaged by the law.
A respective bill authored by MPs Oleksandr Sych, Ruslan Zelik and Ruslan Martsynkiv was registered on the Web site of the Verkhovna Rada on April 5.
MPs said in the explanatory note that at present about one million couples are infertile in Ukraine, including 868,000 due to female infertility (abortions are the cause of female infertility in 80% of cases). Ukraine’s population has shrunk by five million people over the past 20 years (from 52 million to 47 million people).
“If this demographic trend continues, then in a few decades the people of Ukraine will consist mainly of immigrants from Asia. One of the main reasons for such a disappointing demographic trend is the legalization of abortions,” they said.
In this regard, MPs proposed introducing a number of amendments to the Civil and Criminal Codes. In particular, they proposed introducing criminal liability for abortions, apart from in cases envisaged by law – imprisonment from three to seven years with the deprivation of the right to occupy certain posts or engage in certain activities for up to three years.
The MPs also proposed introducing a fine of 50 to 100 non-taxable minimum incomes for the public promotion of abortions or calls for abortions (the non-taxable minimum income currently stands at Hr 17).
