In March 2026, the State Duma will consider a bill requiring a wife to notify her husband (including an ex-husband) if she plans to terminate a pregnancy. Lawmakers want to amend the section on artificial termination of pregnancy in the federal law “On the Fundamentals of Health Protection of Citizens.” The draft legislation would create the following language:
“Each woman independently decides whether to become a mother. Artificial termination of pregnancy is carried out at the woman’s request with the presence of [her] informed voluntary consent and notification of the spouse, if the woman is married, and also notification of her ex-husband if the divorce occurred within the previous twelve weeks.”
Apparently, the assumption is that the only man who could have fathered a child during this time is the woman’s former husband, and that his input will reduce the number of abortions.
Editor’s Note: Russia was the first country in the world to legalise abortion, in 1921.
SOURCE : Meduza, 9 February 2026.