RUSSIA: Russia is going to soon adopt a law that will ban foreigners from contracting Russian women to be their surrogate mothers.
On Sunday—the country’s Mother’s Day—Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, made the declaration.
Russian law permits paid surrogacy, but the practise has come under fire from religious groups for “commercialising” childbirth.
Regarding banning foreigners from using the surrogacy service, Volodin stated on the Telegram messaging app that “everything must be done to protect children.” “We will make this decision at the beginning of December.”
Approximately 45,000 surrogate babies have been taken in foreign countries over the last few years, he claimed, adding that “child trafficking is unacceptable.”
During its initial reading in May, the bill received resounding approval from Russian lawmakers. If approved in the third and final reading, President Vladimir Putin would sign it into law following approval by the upper house of parliament.
The Ukrainian government claims that since Russia invaded its neighbour in February, more than 12,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly deported, while 440 people have perished in the battle and hundreds more are still unaccounted for.
Russia denies accusations of coercive deportations and contends that Ukrainian refugees entered its territory to protect people from Ukrainian military forces.
On Friday, Putin met with a carefully chosen group of mothers of Russian soldiers who had been dispatched to fight in Ukraine, reminding them that their sons had not died in vain.
Also Read: Zelensky Accuses Russia of War Crimes against Humanity in Kherson
