This week, in a move that will further limit reproductive freedoms, infringe on women's rights, and stifle free expression, Russia’s State Duma passed its first vote on draft legislation purporting to ban “propaganda” about so-called child-free lifestyles. The ban would extend to mass media, advertisement, publishing, film, and the internet.
The ruling United Russia party proposed the bill, saying it will protect “traditional” and “family values,” prevent the “degradation of public institutions,” and counter “depopulation.” Fines for violators would range from as much as 400,000 rubles (about US$4,124) for individuals to up to 5 million rubles (about US$51,546) for organizations, including media companies, publishing houses, streaming services, etc.
A small group of legislators initially objected to the bill, suggesting that “fear and pressure” would not help resolve Russia’s falling birthrates and warning that the ban could trigger “millions of baseless denunciations.”
In response, the Duma chairman, Vyacheslav Volodin, accused them of “standing against [their] country” and threatened that there was no place in the Duma for opponents of the ban. Unsurprisingly, not a single lawmaker voted against or abstained from the vote.
In an effort to deny the facts, Volodin insisted the bill will not infringe on “women’s choices.” This echoes Russian authorities’ false assertions over a decade ago that their “gay propaganda” ban had nothing to do with discrimination. That law banned all public information, representations, or activities in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. This “child-free” law would similarly make people without children the new scapegoat.
The bill spells disaster for women, mass media, art, the entertainment industry, and online expression, forcing sweeping self-censorship on individuals and institutions, much like the “gay propaganda” ban did before it. To avoid sanctions, Russian publishers have long been recalling books with content on LGBT people, and book stores and libraries have been put under tremendous pressure. This year, a court in Nizhny Novgorod fined a bookstore chain 500,000 rubles (about US$5,155) for selling a novel including depictions of same-sex relations. Russian courts have also been increasingly fining television channels and streaming services featuring LGBT people.The deep ambiguity of the term “child-free propaganda” will create new opportunities for abuse. People who do not have children—for whatever reason, including fertility challenges—will face stigma and censorship, as any public visual, audio and print content will be purged of anyone asserting earnestly or even jokingly that not having children is okay.
The Kremlin should cease its effort to control people’s private lives and suspends its harmful “traditional values” crusade. Whether to have children or not is a decision for the individual, not politicians in the Duma.
