Family Planning 'A Duty’

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31080, 8 June 1966, Page 18

Family Planning ' A Duty’

There was now no organised religion in the world which was opposed to the principle of family planning, said Sir Colville Deverell, secretarygeneral of the International Planned Parenthood Association, in Christchurch today, day.

He will attend the eighth biennial conference of the New Zealand Family Planning Association at Wellington from June 17 to 19.

“It is universally recognised,” he said, “that it is desirable and indeed a duty for parents to plan the size and spacing of their families. “The only area of dispute is the methods that may be used. The Roman Catholic Church now regards abstinence and the so-called thy th m method as the only permissable methods. The question

of whether further methods | may be declared licit is the subject of discussion by the Population Commission ap-

pointed by the Pope to advise him on the matter. “Naturally, my organisation would welcome changes which would make other approved methods available, while maintaining the principle that the choice should be left to individuals in the exercise of their own consciences.” Sir Colville Deverell said that autonomous national family planning associations shared the belief that in this time and age all parents had the right of access to knowledge and methods for spacing children according to the dictates of their individual consciences. “We believe that this should be an integral part of maternal and child health,” he said. “Just as Government health authorities provide ante-natal and post-natal health services, so they should provide information about spacing or limiting families.” He said that as well as that humane universal objective there were two other reasons

why a country might adopt a family planning programme, depending on its economic circumstances.

One was when the density of the population was such that it exceeded the available natural resources. The other was equally important but less well understood. It was the situation which now prevailed in most underdeveloped countries where population density might not yet be excessive, but growth rates were so rapid that by the exercise of demographic law the age structure of the population was unbalanced.

Sir Colville Deverell said this created the situation where 45 to 50 per cent of the population was under 15. This was the case in Kenya and Fiji.

“When such conditions prevail it is simply not possible for a developing country to find the capital to plough back into its economy to stimulate economic growth. Although the gross national product may increase, the per capita income of the people stands still or decreases.

“It is the comparatively recent understanding of this factor that has led so many countries in the last few years to adopt national policies to curb their birth-rates.” He said that of the 20 countries which had made such a decision, 18 had had family planning associations which had played a large part in creating the climate of opinion which had allowed the Government to take appropriate action.

Death Dive. Dozens of people watched as Richard Tribe, aged 17, dived 35 ft to Ms death from a seashore rock after an elderly man had dared him to do it Vancouver, June 7.