Marie Stopes Discusses Birth Control With Islamic Leaders In Afghanistan

Marie Stopes International is leading seminars in Afghanistan that explain the benefits of birth control to Islamic religious leaders known as mullahs, the New York Times reports. Afghanistan has a fertility rate of six children per woman, the highest in Asia. The country is second only to Sierra Leone in maternal mortality, with the rate as high as 8% in some areas of Afghanistan. According to the Times, although Islam does not necessarily forbid birth control, mullahs "consider children to be blessings from God" and "are usually the most determined opponents of having fewer of them."

The Times reports the mullahs were reluctant to participant in the seminars and were paid to attend. However, some emerged from a recent session with a positive outlook. The sessions are led by a mullah with the assistance of a doctor, and the messages are related to the Koran. Seminar leaders aim to convey that having children is good but that women shouldn't have too many of them and should wait two years between pregnancies to give their bodies time to recover.

Syed Masoom, a mullah and one of the trainers, said urban Afghans are looking for ways to have fewer children. He said the country is changing and mullahs are the best place to start to instigate further change. He explained, "This is an Islamic country," adding, "If the clerics support this, no one will oppose it."

Marie Stopes is also working with Afghan women to distribute birth control door to door in Kabul. In 2009, sales of birth control pills almost doubled from 6,000 packages in January to 11,000 in September, according to Marie Stopes figures. Although many women are receptive to the pills, Marie Stopes workers say that the most difficult houses at which to distribute birth control are those headed by mullahs, and some women choose to use contraception in secret (Tavernise, New York Times, 11/15).


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