will prohibit all “propaganda” that promotes not having children

The Russian Lower House approved on Thursday in first reading a controversial bill that seeks to increase birth rate at any cost.

“It is important protect peopleespecially the younger generations, of the ideology of sterility imposed on the Internet, in the media, in films and in advertising,” defended Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, an ally of President Vladimir Putin.

“We continue to form a unified legal framework for the protection of children, families and traditional values,” he added, referring to the set of LGTBIphobic regulations already put in place.

Putin, obsessed with portraying Russia as a bastion of moral values ​​caught in an existential struggle with a declining West, has on multiple occasions encouraged women to have at least three children to ensure the demographic future of the country.

“Women in Russia are being essentially converted into vessels to have childrens, without taking into account their circumstances, their motivations and whether they aspire to have a career or a family,” he denounced in statements to Reuters. Olga Suvorova, a rights activist who works with victims of domestic violence in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk. “The message is clear: you have to give birth and that’s it,” he said.

Russia faces, like much of the West, an enormous demographic challenge. In the first half of this year, its birth rate sank to its lowest level in a quarter century, 599,600 babies, 16,500 less than the same period in 2023.

Duma Deputy Speaker Anna Kuznetsova said earlier this month that this law It was part of Russia’s “national security strategy.”

When this rule is approved, those people or media that create, publish and spread “propaganda” that promotes a childless lifestyle will face severe fines.

The sanctions will be up to 400,000 rubles (almost 4,000 euros) for natural persons, double that amount for officials and up to 5 million rubles (about 48,000 euros) for legal entities.

Despite this, the president of the Duma defends that with this law It is not intended to criminalize women who decide not to be mothers. “The decision to have children or not is up to women, they will be the ones to choose, but there should not be any propaganda that pressures them when they make this decision.”