President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday the country must increase its birthrate, calling the persistent population decline of hundreds of thousands a year "the most acute problem of contemporary Russia." - Washinton Post
Mr. Putin then warned that Russia's population has been declining by almost 700,000 people a year, and that the state must stop the decline. In 2004, for every 16 Russians who died, only 10.4 Russian babies were born, according to the most recently available official data. - The New York Times
What the Post and the Times failed to report is that abortion rates in Russia are some of the highest in the world. Conservative estimates indicate 60% of all pregnancies end in abortion. LifeSiteNews reported in August that Russia�s abortion rates exceeded the national rate of birth for the first time in 2005.
Previously:
Russian Abortion Killing and Sterilizing Millions; Demographic Collapse Likely to be Worse than Previously Predicted (April 13, 2005)
Every Third Russian Abortion Ends in Patient's Death (April 8, 2005)
