The Patriarchal Commission of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) for Family Matters conducted an extensive review of abortion law compliance in private medical clinics across the country. The findings revealed that regulations are being violated in clinics located in 76 regions of the Russian Federation. For instance, 78% of the audited medical organizations failed to observe the mandatory waiting period, known as the «week of silence,» and openly advertised pregnancy termination services on their websites.
The «week of silence» is a legally mandated interval that must elapse between a woman`s initial request for an abortion and the actual performance of the procedure.
The results of the ROC`s monitoring were reported by RIA Novosti. According to the news agency, the study spanned from September 2023 to October 2025 and encompassed a sample of 1003 private clinics in all Russian regions.
Researchers also observed a 26% reduction in the number of private clinics providing abortion services, decreasing from 2813 to 2088 between February 2023 and October of the current year. The ROC stated that this trend is further corroborated by data from Roszdravnadzor, the Federal Service for Surveillance in Healthcare.
Following the identification of these widespread violations, members of the Patriarchal Commission submitted 732 formal complaints to various law enforcement bodies. More than 90% of these appeals were directed to the General Prosecutor`s Office, with the remainder sent to the Investigative Committee (SKR), the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), Roszdravnadzor, and the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS).
