Quaker concern: reproductive health and family planning for all – regardless of income

The QCOP website events page records that the population counter passed the 8.000.000.000 mark earlier this month:

A large number of these children will have been born to mothers in poor health, who have not the strength or the means to care for them.

MSI Reproductive Services has many stories of such women asking for contraceptives that cannot be detected by their men, and of women having subcutaneous implants being cut out by their menfolk.

Poverty often dictates that girls are married as early as ten years old, some becoming pregnant before their bodies are able to properly sustain them.

Our Friend Roger Plenty (QCOP) writes: Coercion is rife in the world of population. This can’t be denied:

Let me give some examples. Nearly 50% of women cannot choose when to have sex, or whether they can use contraception or access services like abortion (safe or unsafe).

Some countries have cultures that remove the right of women to make decisions about their fertility.

Others are ruled by religious dogma. The Pope’s gently expressed view that being childless is selfish, could be described as moral blackmail. It is certainly coercive.

In less developed countries, such as the Philippines, the church has a grip on the government and can threaten excommunication.

A QCOP contributor reminds us that the planet Earth is fine. It will go on despite heat waves, cold snaps, forest fires, storms, floods and droughts. But asks if humanity will survive the ever-increasing population numbers on finite resources? Ending:

“Makes you think, doesn’t it?”

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Roger Plenty reminds us that individuals can help by supporting bodies working in family planning. QCOP’s nominated charity is CHASE Africa: www.chaseafrica.org.uk/donate

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