Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1498223
'ARE there too many people in the world? Or too few? Is the population growing too fast — or too slow?' In a long and detailed re- cent report, the UN Popu- lation Fund, its sexual and reproductive health agency, discusses the facts, and alarm- ist concerns, about population growth. Very much in line with hu- manist ideals of personal flour- ishing, agency and autonomy, the report says that, rather than the questions above, we should be asking: 'How many pregnancies are wanted?'; and 'How many wish for pregnan- cies but are not supported/al- lowed to fulfil such desires?' Unwanted pregnancies The numbers in this regard are far from what one would wish. Data from 68 countries high- lights the impact on women and girls of the absence of their bodily autonomy. 44% of part- nered women and girls are de- nied their fundamental right to make their own decisions. 24% are unable to say no to sex, 25% to make decisions about their own health care, and 11% to make decisions about contra- ception. Together, this means that on- ly 56% of women are able make their own decisions over their sexual and reproductive health and rights. It is thus estimated that nearly half of all pregnan- cies are unintended, mistimed or unwanted. Wanted pregnancies Turning to the second ques- tion, the report notes that many struggle with an unful- filled desire for children due to economic and financial insecurity, but also because: "Globally, infertility is seldom prioritized, even though it is commonplace and its impacts on individuals and families can be devastating… 'family planning'… is often used as a synonym for contraception, when… it should be inclusive of all aspects of reproductive planning, including interven- tions that help individuals and couples realize their desire for children." The report goes on to say that same-sex and gender-di- verse couples are "particularly impacted by laws regulating whether and how people can become parents". It outlines that only 54 countries allow same-sex couples to adopt chil- dren and many countries per- mit in-vitro fertilization only for married couples. Further- more, only 24 countries allow same sex marriage and trans- gender and non-binary persons may face particular barriers in that only one third of countries make it possible to change le- gal gender. Even in countries where persons can exercise this right, care for their reproduc- tive and sexual needs lags far behind. It is a welcome development that, in Malta, free IVF is avail- able to same-sex couples and single women. Contraception in Malta Many of us will be aware from our family histories that fami- ly sizes in Malta have reduced drastically in the past decades. Before they knew about, or were able to implement, fam- ily planning, our great-grand- mothers often bore 10, if not 20, children, with the con- sequence that most of their lives were wholly devoted to child-rearing rather than to any kind of personal develop- ment, let alone a career. Sadly, in Malta it has long been the prerogative of the Ro- man Catholic Church to teach what family planning methods are acceptable. Church teach- ing on family planning changed after Vatican II (1965), but is still limited to abstinence and the rhythm method, excluding even coitus interruptus. Our relationship with contra- ception still lags behind much of Europe. The 2023 Contra- ception Policy Atlas published by the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Repro- ductive Rights, detailing ac- cess to modern contraception, ranked Malta 31st out of 46 countries. It is to be hoped that the free contraception prom- ised by the Health Minister last year might improve that (as might a comprehensive sexual health policy, promised in 2021 but yet to emerge). In our view, a major cause of the low uptake and under- standing of contraception here is the widely-varying, but often limited, nature of sex educa- tion in schools, under the in- fluence of the Roman Catho- lic Church which teaches that abstinence before marriage is the (unrealistic) ideal. Surely as a result, Malta has the high- est teen birth rate in South- ern Europe, and Maltese teens have the lowest prevalence of condom use in Europe. But it also follows that Malta has the highest rate of HIV diagnoses in the EU/EEA, and one of the highest rates of STDs. Individual choice As humanists, we support individual choice as far as is possible without impinging on others' rights. Rather than seeing people only as numbers, or baby-producing machines, to somehow be controlled in one direction or the other, let's take a humanist approach and enable everyone to decide how they live, and give them op- portunities to do so, finding meaning and purpose in their own way. That would ultimate- ly lead to a better and fairer world for all, where children would feel wanted, and each person can decide where their fulfilment lies and which role they want to play, free from co- ercion, discrimination, stigma, and liberated from state or reli- gious control. 12 OPINION maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 APRIL 2023 Christian Colombo is Chair, and Joanna Onions is Committee member, Humanists Malta Dealing with world population concerns Christian Colombo & Joanna Onions