Russia and the culture of death.

I was astonished to read that 64% of pregnancies in Russia end in abortion. In 2001 it was 57.5%. For a population that continues to shrink abortion is a prime reason. In 2001 there were 1.8 million abortions compared to 1.32 million births.

One of the curses resulting from abortion is the inability to have children. It's reported that each year 200,000 to 250,000 women become infertile as a result of having an abortion.

A new story reports:

The number of infertile women in Russia is growing by 200,000 to 250,000 each year, with the main cause being complications from abortions, Marina Tarasova, deputy head of the St. Petersburg Research Institute For Gynecology and Obstetrics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said on Monday.

Speaking at an international conference highlighting new methods of oral contraception, Tarasova warned that by the end of 2007 there were already more than 5.5 million infertile couples in Russia.

The low birth rate remains one of the key reasons behind Russia’s ongoing demographic crisis. According to official statistics, every fourth teenage girl in Russia has some form of gynecological ailment or reproductive health disorder.

Each year in Russia, more than 64 percent of all pregnancies end in abortion, while in Western European countries the level is below 25 percent. By comparison, there are 10 to 15 abortions per 100 pregnancies in the U.K. and 5 or 6 per 100 in the Netherlands.

All of this points to national moral and spiritual crisis in Russia. Here's a society raised up on atheism for several generations. It's moral and spiritual capital was decimated. Without hope, people focus only on themselves and their personal convenience. Children are an inconvenience who can be eliminated before they leave the womb. But it's not that easy. Whether people acknowledged it or not, they can't simply walk away from abortion with no consequences to themselves or their society. Infertility is just the tip of the iceberg. The nation itself is shrinking.

Russia isn't alone though. European and the United States are dealing with the same crisis to varying degrees.