Russian Orthodox Church official proposes requiring married women to get husbands’ permission for abortions

At a Russian State Duma round table event on Thursday, Russian Orthodox Church official Fedor Lukyanov proposed requiring married women to get their husbands’ permission before getting abortions. He added that “medically necessary abortions” should not be subject to the law, but specified that the exemption should only apply to pregnancies that threaten the mother’s life, not ones that threaten the baby’s life.

Lukyanov also called on lawmakers to increase penalties for people who violate abortion-related laws, such as Russia’s ban on advertising for abortion services or mandatory waiting periods between seeking abortions and getting them.