Russian ban of US adoptions passes in lower parliament

MOSCOW — The lower house of the Russian parliament Friday overwhelmingly passed a bill that would ban adoption of Russian children by Americans, sending the controversial legislation a step closer to President Vladimir Putin's desk.

Putin hasn't said whether he will sign the measure into law if it passes its next stage of being approved by the upper house.

Some top government officials, including the foreign minister and the education minister, have spoken flatly against the bill, one part of a larger measure by angry lawmakers retaliating against a recently signed U.S. law that calls for sanctions against Russians deemed to be human rights violators.

VIDEO: Russian lawmakers back adoption ban in row with U.S.

It nonetheless received strong approval in Friday's third reading in the State Duma, passing by a vote of 420-7-1. The upper house, the Federation Council, is likely to consider the measure Wednesday, vice speaker Alexander Torshin was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

Torshin said there is "serious basis for supposing the draft bill will be supported by the Federation Council."

Originally, the bill was more or less a tit-for-tat response, calling for travel sanctions and the seizure of financial assets in Russia of Americans proved to have violated the Russians' rights.

RELATED: Russia gives preliminary OK to US adoption law

But it was expanded to include the adoption measure. It also calls for banning any organizations engaged in political activities if they receive funding from U.S. citizens or are determined to be a threat to Russia's interests, and disallows anyone with dual Russian-U.S. citizenship to be a member of political organizations.

The bill is a dramatic demonstration of two strains of animosity toward the United States. The Russian political establishment resents the United States for allegedly meddling in the country's internal affairs; Putin has charged that opposition protests over the past year were the work of U.S.-funded troublemakers. Many Russians are angered by cases of adopted children abused in America and by courts' alleged leniency in these cases.

The Duma bill is named in honor of Dima Yakovlev, a Russian toddler who was adopted by Americans and then died in 2008 after his father left him in a car in broiling heat for hours. The father was found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

Anger over abuse peaked in 2010 when an American woman sent her 7-year-old adopted Russian son back to Moscow on a plane alone, saying he had emotional problems and she could no longer care for him.

RELATED: Russian parliament to consider ban on US adoptions

Despite abuse cases, Russian critics of the bill say it would ultimately victimize orphans by depriving them of an opportunity to escape often-dismal Russian orphanages. There are about 740,000 children without parental custody in Russia, according to UNICEF. Russians historically have been less inclined to adopt children than many other cultures.

American families adopt more Russian children — 956 last year — than those of any other country. Of the children adopted by Americans in 2011, 9 percent — or 89 — were disabled, according to official Russian figures.

"Russia is not able to provide for all its orphans," Boris Altshuler, director of the Moscow-based Rights of the Child advocacy group, said. "Although 1,000 is a small fraction — it was a help."

But Russia's children's ombudsman, Pavel Astakhov, one of the strongest critics of U.S. abuse cases, says the solution is for Russia to adopt a national program to improve orphans' prospects.

"It's necessary to strictly hold to the principle of priority for Russian adopters," he told Interfax after the Duma vote.

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