What is your opinion about the practice of family planning? Are you for it or against it?
I am totally in favor of family planning. Through family planning, parents are able to deliberately and responsibly plan their desired family size based on their social and economic capacity through informed choices and decisions. It involves natural and modern methods. Natural Family Planning (NFP) consists of methods that are utilized to plan or prevent pregnancy based on the woman’s fertility cycle. On the other hand, Modern methods of Family Planning (MFP) can be further subclassified to modern natural methods and modern artificial methods. Modern natural methods include Billings Ovulation/Cervical Mucus Method, Basal Body Temperature, Symptothermal Method, Standard Days Method, and Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM) while modern artificial methods include contraceptive pills, condoms, injectables, intrauterine (IUD) devices, No Scalpel Vasectomy, Bilateral Tubal Ligation, and sub-dermal implants.
The provision of family planning provides numerous benefits to the mother, children, father, family, and society. Some of which are:
- Improved maternal health and child survival. Allowing women to recuperate after delivery and plan their future pregnancies provides benefits to the mother and children. Mothers would be able to have ample time and opportunity to care for their child, herself, and her family. Furthermore, meeting the unmet needs for contraceptives lowers the maternal mortality rate by 35% and a three-year interval between births lowers infant mortality rate by 24% and child mortality rate by 35%.
- Reduced unsafe abortions. Filling in the gap in the unmet need for contraceptives would reduce the number of unsafe abortions by 64% which would further lead to fewer maternal deaths and injuries.
- Prevents sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS. Access to condoms reduces the rate of spread of STIs including HIV. Additionally, HIV-positive women are better able to prevent unplanned pregnancies and births.
- Empowered and educated women. Family planning enables the mother to control the number and timing of her pregnancy thus she is able to take advantage of educational and economic opportunities which can improve the future of her family.
- Promotes social and economic development and security. Family planning helps in controlling population growth. Rapid and unsustainable population growth creates instability and civil unrest in societies.
- Protects the environment. Controlling the population growth rate also protects the environment since a rapidly growing population aggravates environmental degradation and strains the world’s resources.
References:
Department of Health (n.d.). Guidelines in Setting Up Family Planning Services in Hospitals. doh.gov.ph. Retrieved March 20, 2022 from https://doh.gov.ph/sites/default/files/publications/GuidelinesSettingUpFamilyPlanningServicesHospitals.pdf
Department of Health (n.d.). What is meant by Family Planning?. doh.gov.ph. Retrieved March 20, 2022 from https://doh.gov.ph/faqs/What-is-meant-by-Family-Planning
Guttmacher Institute (2008). World Population Day—Six Reasons to Support Family Planning. guttmacher.org. Retrieved March 20, 2022 from https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2008/07/world-population-day-six-reasons-support-family-planning
Are you in favor of the Reproductive Health Law and its provisions? Elaborate your answer.
I am in favor of the Reproductive Health Law and its provisions. Republic Act 10354 or the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law of 2012 guarantees access to services on Reproductive Health (RH) and Family Planning (FP), with due regard to the informed choice of individuals and couples who will accept these services; maternal health care services, including skilled birth attendance and facility-based deliveries; reproductive health and sexuality education for the youth; and regular funding for the law’s full implementation.
Implementation of the RH Law greatly benefits Filipino women deprived of comprehensive information and services on RH especially the poor and marginalized. This would empower women to decide on matters that concern their own bodies. RH Law also promotes the health and well-being of children. If mothers’ health is taken care of during pregnancy and delivery, this will lead to healthier children. Additionally, RH Law also attends to the special needs of persons with disabilities (PWD) for RH information and services. Furthermore, RH Law will also benefit adolescents and sectors who are prone to HIV and aids.
UNFPA has also identified the advantages in investing in reproductive health such as improving family and community well-being, boosting economic gains, saving women’s lives, and controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS.
References:
Philippines Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development Foundation, Inc. (2013). plcpd.org.ph. RA 10354: A Primer on the Reproductive Health Law. Retrieved March 20, 2022 from https://www.plcpd.org.ph/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/A-primer-on-the-Reproductive-Health-Law.pdf
United Nations Population Fund (2005). UNFPA Reaffirms Advantages of Investing in Reproductive Health. unfpa.org. Retrieved March 20, 2022 from https://www.unfpa.org/press/unfpa-reaffirms-advantages-investing-reproductive-health