> "russia is facing a demographic crisis, which president vladimir putin has tried to address with national policies encouraging childbirth." > "in part of this drive to increase birthrates, vyacheslav volodin, chairman of the state duma, said lawmakers are looking at banning what he called propaganda that encourages 'a conscious refusal to have children.' this legislation, if passed, would ban not only the promotion of a child-free lifestyle but would also impose severe penalties. volodins statements, heavily featured in the media, emphasized: > "a large and friendly family is the basis of a strong state." > everything that needs to be done to increase the birthrate must be done. and everything that hinders this should disappear from our lives." volodin further noted that violations of this law would incur harsh fines, with individuals facing up to 400,000 rubles ($4,300), while businesses could be penalized up to 5 million rubles ($53,763).  in a parallel report from france24, the cultural ramifications of this bill became clearer, as it echoed the dystopian themes of state control found in literature and media like the handmaids tale. the france24 article quoted kremlin spokesman dmitry peskov: > "everything that needs to be done to increase the birthrate must be done. and everything that hinders this should disappear from our lives." this statement reflected the kremlins stance on personal matters. to many, this legislation seemed to infringe on the most intimate aspects of human life. yet to the kremlin, it was a necessary move to stave off russias demographic decline.
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