Moscow, October 13, 2026
Photo: news.ru
The number of private clinics in Russia that have voluntarily stopped performing abortions has more than doubled in a little over a year, according to the head of the Patriarchal Commission for Family Affairs, Protection of Motherhood and Childhood.
Fr. Theodore Lukyanov says 1,500 private clinics across the country have given up abortions over the past five years. In May 2025, he put the figure at 686, which means the number has risen by nearly 120%.
Fr. Theodore made the remarks on October 10 at the Church of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos in Petrovsky Park in Moscow, where he served a moleben for the defenders of unborn life and for the eradication of abortion, reports Patriarchia.ru.
The Holy Synod approved the text of the service, a prayer for the enlightenment of those who intend to destroy a child in the womb, in December 2025.
Photo: patriarchia.ru
“Thanks to the position of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’, who unwaveringly bears witness to the sanctity of the lives of unborn children, our country has made significant progress in protecting them,” Fr. Theodore said. “Of course, much remains to be done, but today we know that over the past five years, 1,500 private clinics in the Russian Federation have voluntarily given up performing abortions.”
He said laws banning inducement to abortion have been adopted in more than 32 regions of Russia. In 19 regions, private clinics have stopped performing abortions entirely. In 25 regions, 60% of clinics have stopped, and in 36 regions, more than 30% of all commercial clinics have stopped. “And this process is growing,” he said.
“Infanticide is gradually becoming what it should be: an evil that must be cast out of the body of our country and out of human souls,” he said. “No one should say that it’s normal, that it’s part of human life. No. Man is the image of God, who gives life. Death isn’t part of our nature. The killing of innocent, unborn children can never and nowhere be the norm. And if it becomes the norm, then man ceases to be man.”
He added that the work will continue despite the actions of the enemy of mankind, “who resists, but is retreating today.”
Parishioners of the church, staff of the Patriarchal Commission, activists fighting for the lives of unborn children, and members of the All-Russian public movement Forty Forties prayed at the service.
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