Pediatrician and Russian Academy of Medical Sciences member Alexandr Baranov, called for protection of an unborn child’s life in law, while also stressing that the practice of abortion should not be covered by health insurance funds – echoing the position of the Russian Orthodox Church. He spoke during a medical forum in the Russian capital.
The Union of Pediatricians of Russia supports the proposal by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, His Holiness Kirill, to exclude the practice of abortion from the public health system.
Still in Russia, the Orthodox Church there again expressed its agreement over the prospect of holding a referendum to revise the country’s constitution. The Russian Church has repeatedly called for a reference to God in the preamble of the constitution, as well as references to the protection of the family and a definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman.