Russian President Putin to Sign U.S. Adoption Ban
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he intends to sign a bill that bans Americans from adopting Russian children.
The Russian parliament gave final approval to the legislation on Wednesday which now only needs Putin's signature in order for it to become law.
Putin remarked during a televised meeting on Thursday that he does not have any reason that he believes should prevent him from singing the bill.
The Russian president's comments were reported by Reuters: "There are probably many places in the world where living standards are higher than ours. So what, are we going to send all our children there? Maybe we should move there ourselves?" he said, with sarcasm.
Putin added: "I intend to sign not only the law ... but also a presidential decree that will modify the support mechanisms for orphaned children ... especially those who are in a difficult situation, by that I mean in poor health,"
The bill is partly a response by Putin to The Magnitsky Act, which was signed by U.S. President Barack Obama this month. The Act imposes a visa ban and financial sanctions on Russian officials accused of human rights violations.
State Department spokesperson Patrick Ventrell commented about the Russia's new bill saying "It is misguided to link the fate of children to unrelated political considerations."
The new legislation will impact the children who have already been chosen by foreign adopters.
Pavel A. Astakhov, Russia's child rights commissioner and a major proponent of the ban, said that the process will be halted for children currently in the process of being adopted by Americans.
"The children who have been chosen by foreign American parents - we know of 46 children who were seen, whose paperwork was processed, who came in the sights of American agencies," Astakhov said in a statement reported by The New York Times. "They will not be able to go to America, to those who wanted to see them as their adopted children. There is no need to go out and make a tragedy out of it."
ABC News reported that Russia is the third most-popular place for Americans to adopt children and quoted a State Department figure that over 45,000 Russian children have been adopted by American families since 1999.
