<
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-proposes-ban-child-free-lifestyle-rcna172616>
"Russia’s fight against the West and its values has taken aim this week at an
“ideology” that the Kremlin and its allies say threatens the country’s very
foundations: people not wanting to have children.
Lawmakers have proposed a ban on “propaganda of conscious refusal to bear
children,” Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the lower house of parliament and
an ally of President Vladimir Putin, said in a post on Telegram on Tuesday.
It is the latest effort by authorities to combat the demographic strain of
falling birth rates, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, which the Kremlin says
could threaten the country’s long-term outlook. In July, Kremlin spokesman
Dmitry Peskov called Russia’s declining birth rate “catastrophic for the future
of the nation.”
The issues at the heart of it are not limited to Russia — indeed they have
emerged as flashpoints in the U.S. presidential election — but the move this
week is just the latest step in a Kremlin campaign to promote what it casts as
“traditional values” as it reshapes Russian society around Putin’s war and
embraces an existential clash with the United States and allies.
The bill would tackle what Volodin said was the promotion of the “ideology of
childlessness” and the “childfree movement” on the internet, in the media, in
movies and even in advertisements, citing what he said where frequent online
displays of “disrespect for motherhood and fatherhood, aggression toward
pregnant women and children, and members of large families.”
It will come with heavy fines, he said, of up to $4,300 for individuals and
more than $53,000 for legal entities. “A close-knit and large family is the
basis of a strong state,” Volodin added.
It’s not clear how exactly this legislation would be enforced if enacted, and
what exactly would constitute a violation, but it comes amid an already
unprecedented crackdown on dissent more than 2 1/2 years into Russia’s
full-scale invasion of its neighbor.
The bill was formally introduced in the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of
parliament, on Wednesday, possibly signaling the Kremlin’s intention to move
quickly on it. But not everyone is convinced it’s a good idea."
Via Kevin O'Brien, woh wrote "A preview of where the Republicans will be going
soon."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
