We reported last week on the upcoming Family Planning Summit to be held in London tomorrow, Wednesday July 11th, World Population Day see this link.
In the lead up to this summit there is a major international effort to push what is being termed as an "unmet need for family planning" backed by reports in the Financial Times and the Lancet.
The lancet report according to news sources makes the unbelievable statement that contraception saves 250,000 lives annually. According to the report, "Increasing contraceptive use in developing countries has cut the number of maternal deaths by 40% over the past 20 years".
It is well known that reduction in maternal mortality
relates to the availability of basic healthcare, which should be provided to
all women. Mothers in particular should be provided with essential prenatal
care, skilled attendants at all deliveries and specialist care for life
threatening complications for both mother and the child yet to be born. “
Predicating aid to developing countries on the basis of
acceptance of family planning methods is not respectful of the human person
does nothing to advance the health and wellbeing of women of today and of
tomorrow. What is needed instead is a human-centered approach to caring for
others, an approach that is fully respectful of the intrinsic dignity and worth
of each and every person--from the very beginning of conception to natural
death--an approach which sees the individual person not as a burden but as a
contribution to the human family.
Executive Director of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) John Smeaton points out in his BLOG that
despite Melinda Gates assurances that abortion is not part of her
agenda it is likely that there will be a new and sustained attempt to
create a so called "human right to abortion. John's BLOG includes this
video on the real reasons for maternal deaths, whilst Anthony Ozimic points out that Food not Contraception saves lives.
