Abortion in Russia Leads to Widespread Infertility.

The Washington Post headline said it all: "Russians Feel Abortion's Complications: Used as Birth Control in Soviet Times, Practice Has Led to Widespread Infertility." Indeed, the number of abortions is incredible and the ramifications are nothing short of staggering.

According to the Post, "About 5 million--or 13 percent--of Russian married couples are infertile, and doctors report that diagnoses of infertility are on the rise. In nearly three out of four cases, infertility is attributed to the woman, typically because of complications from one or more abortions, according to [Vladimir] Serov and other health experts."

But this enormous infertility plague follows as night follows day in light of the startling fact that there are more abortions than live births in Russia: l.7 abortions for every one live birth, to be exact. (In the United States there are roughly three births for every abortion.) A 1994 study by the Rand Corporation found that by the end of her child-bearing years, the average Russian woman had undergone no less than three abortions, the Post reported.

The ensuing infertility epidemic, in turn, has compounded the impact of an already dangerously low birth rate: "On average, Russian women now bear just more than one child," the Post reported. (There is an almost off-hand reference in the article to a "soaring death rate," but what that means is not elaborated.)

Now the 6th most populous country in the world, Russia is expected to fall to number 17 in 50 years, according to "UN population experts." The only good news in an otherwise unremittedly grim ...