Parliament prohibits vasectomies and other lasting birth control measures after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calls for more babies
Iran’s parliament has voted to ban permanent forms of contraception, the state news agency IRNA reported, endorsing the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s call for more babies to be born.
The bill, banning vasectomies and similar procedures in women, is parliament’s response to a decree Khamenei issued in May to increase the population to “strengthen national identity” and counter “undesirable aspects of western lifestyles”.
Doctors who violate the ban will be punished, the IRNA reported.
The bill, approved by 143 of 231 members present in parliament, according to the IRNA, also bans the advertising of birth control in a country where condoms had been widely available and family planning considered entirely normal.
The law now goes to the guardian council – a panel of theologians and jurists appointed by the supreme leader, who examine whether legislation complies with Islam.
The ban aims to reverse the decline in Iran’s population, but reformists see the law as part of a drive by conservatives to keep Iran’s highly educated female population in traditional roles as wives and mothers.
Full article: Iran bans permanent contraception to boost population growth (The Guardian)
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