Pope Francis on Zika: abortion a crime, contraception a lesser evil

Yahoo – AFP, 18 February 2016

A pregnant woman holds a mosquito net in Cali on February 10, 2016 after the 

Colombian Health Ministry began delivering mosquito nets free to prevent 

infection by Zika virus (AFP Photo/Luis Robayo)

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis insisted Thursday that abortion was always a crime but hinted that the Church could exceptionally relax its ban on contraception for women at risk of contracting the Zika virus.

"Abortion is not a lesser evil. It is a crime," Francis said in response to a question about how best to combat the outbreak across Latin America of a virus linked to birth defects.

But he added: "Avoiding a pregnancy is not an absolute evil."

Pope Francis speaks to journalists aboard

 the flight from Mexico to Italy, on February

18, 2016 (AFP Photo/Alessandro Di Meo)

The 79-year-old pontiff recalled that one of his predecessors, Paul VI (1963-1978) had authorised nuns working in Africa to use contraceptives in light of a high risk of them being raped by soldiers.

"We must not confuse the evil consisting of avoiding a pregnancy with abortion," Francis said. "Abortion is not a theological problem. It is a human problem, medical. One person is killed to save another. It is evil in itself, it is not a religious evil, it is a human evil.

"On the contrary, avoiding a pregnancy and, in the cases of Paul VI which I have cited, it was clear.

"I would also urge doctors to do everything they can to develop a vaccine."

The United Nations and aid organisations have urged countries hit by the virus to ensure women have access to contraception to reduce the risk of infection and the right to abortion should they decide to terminate a pregnancy.

Many Latin American countries outlaw abortion or allow it only if the mother's life is in danger.

After initially saying little about the outbreak, Catholic leaders in the region have recently begun to assert the Church's opposition to what it terms "artificial" birth control and abortion.

Instead of using condoms or the contraceptive pill, Church officials have been recommending abstinence or what they term natural family planning -- scheduling sexual relations for the least fertile periods of a woman's menstrual cycle.

Francis was also questioned about the recent revelation that another of his predecessors, John-Paul II, had an "intense" 30-year friendship with a married woman.

The current pope said he had been aware of his Polish predecessor's friendship with philosopher and writer Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka.

"A man lacks something if he does not know how to have a good rapport with a woman," he said, adding for good measure that, "sexists are sick".

Every priest should seek out the feelings of women on different subjects, he said.

"I like to receive advice from women. A friendship with a woman is not a sin - a love affair, on the contrary, is."

Although he has given no indication of a change in current Church teaching on the question, Francis has said that the requirement of celibacy for Catholic priests is not set in stone and could be reviewed.

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"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  3 - Longer Life is Going to Happen, But…

Here is one that is a review. We keep bringing it up because Humans don't believe it. If you're going to start living longer, there are those who are frightened that there will be overpopulation. You've seen the way it is so far, and the geometric progression of mathematics is absolute and you cannot change it. So if you look at the population of the earth and how much it has shifted in the last two decades, it's frightening to you. What would change that progression?

The answer is simple, but requires a change in thinking. The answer is a civilization on the planet who understands a new survival scenario. Instead of a basic population who has been told to have a lot of children to enhance the race [old survival], they begin to understand the logic of a new scenario. The Akashic wisdom of the ages will start to creep in with a basic survival scenario shift. Not every single woman will look at herself and say, "The clock is ticking," but instead can say, "I have been a mother 14 times in a row. I'm going to sit this one out." It's a woman who understands that there is no loss or guilt in this, and actually feels that the new survival attribute is to keep the family small or not at all! Also, as we have said before, even those who are currently ignorant of population control will figure out what is causing babies to be born [Kryon joke].

Part of the new Africa will be education and healing, and eventually a zero population growth, just like some of the first-world nations currently have. Those who are currently tied to a spiritual doctrine will actually have that doctrine changed (watch for it) regarding Human birth. Then they will be able to make free choice that is appropriate even within the establishment of organized religion. You see, things are going to change where common sense will say, "Perhaps it would help the planet if I didn't have children or perhaps just one child." Then the obvious, "Perhaps I can exist economically better and be wiser with just one. It will help the one!" Watch for these changes. For those of you who are steeped in the tradition of the doctrines and would say that sounds outrageously impossible, I give you the new coming pope [Kryon smile]. For those of you who feel that uncontrolled procreation is inevitable, I encourage you to see statistics you haven't seen or didn't care to look at yet about what first-world countries have already accomplished on their own, without any mandates. It's already happening. That was number three.….”

The pill is 50, but India still undecided

The Times of India, Saira Kurup & Divya A, TNN, May 9, 2010, 12.32am IST

It's been called the invention that "defined the 20th century". On May 9, 1960, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the world's first birth-control pill called Enovid-10. New technology gave women the right to choose, control over their reproductive lives and saved millions from unsafe abortions. The pill came to be seen as "liberator" and a significant step forward in the struggle for equal rights for women.

But India is more circumspect. "It does give (women) some freedoms; but it also brings with it 'unfreedoms'. Women are expected to carry the responsibility of contraception, and the problems it brings to their health," says Mohan Rao, professor at Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University.

The Indian experience has been hugely different from that of the West. For Western women, the pill has been linked to being able to join the labour force. Today, it is the preferred form of contraception for American women under 30.

But in India, the pill never really took off. The National Family Health Survey-3 statistics reveal that just 49% of Indian women use modern contraception such as the pill and IUDs. "Of the 49%, just 3.1% use the pill," says K G Santhya, associate, Population Council, an international NGO. The main reason is probably the skewed nature of the national family planning programme (FPP) in the last few decades.

"The focus was on terminal methods like female sterilization, rather than spacing methods," adds Santhya. That mindset was so widely promoted that sterilization remains India's most common contraceptive method.

Poverty was another reason. "Our average woman is not suited for the pill; she is hungry, she is anaemic and has an extremely low BMI. Above all, she has no access to medical care. It's also likely that her husband decides on contraception," says Rao. Illiteracy and ignorance are also factors. "The overall literacy and information availability is not adequate. So, women tend to forget about taking the pill daily and that adds to the failure rate," says Alok Banerjee, technical advisor with Parivar Sewa Sanstha, an NGO that provides reproductive health interventions. Santhya says that a Population Council survey of six states found that just 35% of the young women knew that the pill should be taken daily or weekly.

Banerjee adds that there's also an element of mistrust because the early pill contained a high level of the female hormone estrogen, which causes side-effects. "The estrogen levels have been reduced now, but the mindset has not changed."

This is a pity, says social scientist Mala Kapur Shankardass. "Ever since the introduction of the pill, the most important decision of her life is within a woman's control, and she is no longer at the mercy of her husband for contraception or abstinence. She can quietly and discreetly buy the pill over the counter any day."

"She does not need the permission of intrusive in-laws for birth control procedures. She can quietly and discreetly buy the pill over the counter any day," says Shankardass.

Delhi housewife Gulshan Dutta, 45, agrees. She remembers when advertisements for the pill, Mala-D, started to air on Doordarshan. "It was embarrassing to watch those ads in front of my husband and other family members but secretly, I was happy that I could space the birth of my children according to my wish."

Bhawna (name changed), a lecturer, adds: "It has also given a lot of liberty to women when it comes to pre-marital sex." She says she was on the pill for four years till she married her live-in partner.

"It, in a way, let us live together and no each other completely without worrying about pregnancy. Those four years of togetherness have acted as a strong foundation for our married life," she adds.

The pill's newer cousins include the morning-after and abortion pill. These don't need to be taken daily. But

over-the-counter availability leaves them open to misuse, say experts. Shankardass adds a word of caution here. She says, "The pill was introduced as a device in the hands of women to make choices responsibly. But the morning-after pill, especially the way in which it is advertised, induces a careless attitude."

Perhaps the pill's real success may lie in the search for a male version, to force men to take responsibility for birth control too. But the male pill may be some years away.

Meanwhile, the good news is that India's family planning programme is shifting focus to terminal and spacing methods which will emphasize hormonal contraception — injectables and the pill.

Foreign Office apologises for Pope 'condom' memo

BBC News

The Pope is due to visit Birmingham and Scotland in September 2010

The Foreign Office has apologised for a "foolish" document which suggested the Pope's visit to the UK could be marked by the launch of "Benedict" condoms.

Called "The ideal visit would see...", it said the pope could be invited to open an abortion clinic and bless a gay marriage during September's visit.

The Foreign Office stressed the paper, which resulted from a "brainstorm" on the visit, did not reflect its views.

The junior civil servant responsible had been put on other duties, it said.

Details of the document emerged after it was obtained by the Sunday Telegraph.

'Song with Queen'

The UK's ambassador to the Vatican, Francis Campbell, has met senior officials of the Holy See to express regret on behalf of the government.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband is said to have been "appalled" by the incident.

The paper was attached as one of three "background documents" to a memo dated 5 March 2010 inviting officials in Whitehall and Downing Street to attend a meeting to discuss themes for the papal visit.

It suggested Benedict XVI could show his hard line on the sensitive issue of child abuse allegations against Roman Catholic priests by "sacking dodgy bishops" and launching a helpline for abused children.

The document went on to propose the Pope could apologise for the Spanish Armada or sing a song with the Queen for charity.

It listed "positive" public figures who could be made part of the Pope's visit, including former Prime Minister Tony Blair and 2009 Britain's Got Talent runner-up Susan Boyle, and those considered "negative", such as Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney and prominent atheist Richard Dawkins.

The civil servant responsible for sending round the memo said in a cover note: "Please protect; these should not be shared externally. The 'ideal visit' paper in particular was the product of a brainstorm which took into account even the most far-fetched of ideas."

An investigation was launched after some recipients of the memo, said to have been circulated to a restricted list, objected to its tone.

A Foreign Office spokesman said the department was "deeply sorry" for any offence the document had caused.

"This is clearly a foolish document that does not in any way reflect UK government or Foreign Office policy or views. Many of the ideas in the document are clearly ill-judged, naive and disrespectful," he said.

"The text was not cleared or shown to ministers or senior officials before circulation. As soon as senior officials became aware of the document, it was withdrawn from circulation.

"The individual responsible has been transferred to other duties. He has been told orally and in writing that this was a serious error of judgement and has accepted this view."

'Blue-skies thinking'

The Foreign Office said the memo had resulted from discussions by a group of three or four junior staff in a team working on early planning for the papal visit.

A source told the BBC News website the individual since moved to other duties had called the group together for "some blue-skies creative thinking about how to make the visit a success", but their discussions had become "a joke that has gone too far".

The source added that others in the group had been spoken to about the incident, but had not faced any formal action.

Earlier this year the Pope announced 2010 would see the first papal visit to the UK since John Paul II's visit in 1982.

Pope Benedict XVI's visit will take place from 16 to 19 September, during which time he is expected to visit Birmingham, as part of the planned beatification of Cardinal John Newman, and Scotland.

The visit will come in the autumn of what is proving to be a difficult year for the Pope with a wave of allegations that Church authorities in Europe and North and South America failed to deal properly with priests accused of paedophilia.

The Pope himself has been accused of being part of a culture of secrecy and of not taking strong enough steps against paedophiles when he had that responsibility as a cardinal in Rome.

However, his supporters say he has been the most pro-active pope yet in confronting abuse

ANALYSIS

• Robert Pigott, BBC religious affairs correspondent
  
  It's clear that what the Foreign Office has called "this foolish document" did not reflect government policy. Its tone is clearly frivolous, and it came from junior officials.
  
  But it has, nevertheless, the potential to cause considerable damage. Whether fairly or not, it will leave some Catholics with the impression of a culture within official circles in which their Church's teaching is not taken seriously.
  
  Some will suspect prejudice against faith groups. Perhaps most damaging of all, it could leave an impression that the Pope might be regarded as a figure of fun less than five months before his visit to Britain.
  
  Apart from the pressure on the papal visit from public feeling about sex abuse, and the threat of demonstrations against the Pope, the government needs the Vatican's help in a global diplomatic effort to curb climate change and fight poverty.
  
  How serious and far-reaching the effect of the document is depends partly on how the Church itself responds.
  
  

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Condoms can help on poverty - Catholic leader

BBC News

Archbishop Nichols understands the "attractiveness" of contraception

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster has said he understands why contraception is seen as "attractive" in tackling Third World poverty.

But Archbishop Vincent Nichols told BBC WM it was not the Church's role to add to calls for condom distribution.

The Church opposes contraception, because it believes it interferes with the creation of life.

Aid agencies say contraception is an important way for women in developing nations to take control of fertility.

Any form of birth control that might interfere with conception, such as condoms or the Pill, is regarded as sinful by the Catholic Church.

The Church also argues that, in any case, all children should be welcomed as a gift from God.

Asked by BBC WM how Catholic teaching could continue to discourage contraception in poorer parts of the world where the birth rate was rapidly rising, Archbishop Nichols said: "I think when it comes to Third World poverty and the great pressure under which many women are put by men, I can see the arguments, why, in the short term, [the] means that give women protection are attractive."

Child abuse

He went on to say that longer term solutions were needed, and as there were already plenty of "champions" of condoms, it was not the role of the Church to add its voice to those.

"If we solve the poverty, then consistently we know that the birth rate comes down.

"If we provide people with security, then consistently birth rates will come down. And they're the radical issues that we should be addressing, not short-term intrusive fixes."

The editor of Catholic publication The Tablet said there had been a "softening" of language from some senior clergy regarding contraception.

But Catherine Pepinster also told BBC Radio 4's Today programme it was hard to tell if that would result in a change in policy.

There were some cardinals and theologians who said using a condom to prevent HIV, a situation when "you're concerned with preserving life and avoiding death... is a good thing", she added.

In his interview the Archbishop also talked about the child sex abuse scandal currently confronting the Church worldwide.

Catholic bishops in the Philippines have criticised condom use

Allegations that children have been molested by priests have been growing for years.

Now Pope Benedict XVI has been drawn into the controversy, with critics saying that he failed to investigate an abusive US priest, Fr Lawrence Murphy.

Victims say that Father Murphy may have abused up to 200 boys with hearing impairments.

Archbishop Nichols, who admitted on the Andrew Marr show recently that the Church in England and Wales had had its own share of abuse allegations, said that there had been a breakdown in trust across many institutions in Britain, such as politics and the finance industry, as well as the Church.

Despite the Church in England and Wales taking realistic and thorough steps, there also had to be an "honesty and an openness" about what had gone wrong and a search for higher moral standards.

"Our crisis has been real, our addressing it is real, and I think it's repeated, or seen in an echo, in other very important parts of society at the moment.

"We have a lot to do until we get back as a society to the point where we relate to each other on an assumption of trustworthiness."

Related Article:

Catholic bishop "understands arguments for condoms"

Facebook users wage condom campaign against Pope

By Faith Karimi, CNN , 28 March 2009

(CNN) -- Critics took to the social networking site Facebook to voice their fury over Pope Benedict's remark that condoms do not prevent HIV.

Thousands of Facebook supporters plan to send condoms to the Vatican.

Thousands have pledged to send the pontiff millions of condoms to protest the controversial comment he made to journalists as he flew to Cameroon last week.

"You can't resolve it with the distribution of condoms," the pope told reporters. "On the contrary, it increases the problem."

Pope Benedict XVI has made it clear he intends to uphold the traditional Catholic teaching on artificial contraception. The Vatican has long opposed the use of condoms and other forms of birth control and encourages sexual abstinence to fight the spread of the disease.

About a dozen Facebook groups have sprang up, mostly from European countries, criticizing the pontiff.

"The clergy aren't supposed to have sex at all, but they are free to tell people how to conduct themselves? That's like a girl who wears no make-up as the CEO of CoverGirl," one member posted on the page, "Condoms for Pope Benedict XVI."

"It frightens me that a man who has devoted his life to moral guidance ... and is undeniably a learned, intelligent man can be at the same time so narrow-minded, bigoted and irresponsible," posted another person on a different page.

The online campaign added another voice to a deluge of criticism, which includes the governments of France, Germany and Belgium. Aid agencies and other health organizations have also chimed in.

The Lancet, a British medical journal, urged the pope Saturday to issue a retraction for the "outrageous and wildly inaccurate" statement to journalists aboard his plane.

"When any influential person, be it a religious or political leader, makes a false scientific statement that could be devastating to the health of millions of people, they should retract or correct the public record," The Lancet said in an editorial.

"Anything less from Pope Benedict would be an immense disservice to the public and health advocates, including many thousands of Catholics, who work tirelessly to try and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS worldwide."

Some in the Catholic Church have rallied to the pontiff's support.

Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, head of the Italian Bishops Conference, told Times Online in Britain that Benedict was simply pointing out that condoms "had not solved and could not solve the AIDS problem."

Despite the controversy, the pope's pilgrimage spurred excitement in Africa. An estimated 1 million people turned out to hear him preach a Mass in Angola on Sunday, the last major event of his trip. He spoke of the need for reconciliation in the country, which has endured a brutal civil war.

"Look to the future with hope, trust in God's promises and live in his truth. In this way you will build something that will stand and endure," he said.

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Malaysian police arrest 26 at New Year `sex party`

Kuala Lumpur (ANTARA News/afp) - Malaysian police arrested a female newsreader, an actress and 24 other revellers at a New Year's Eve "sex and drugs" party at a Kuala Lumpur hotel, reports said Friday.   

The two high-profile women and seven others tested positive for drugs, police said, according to The New Straits Times, which reported that condoms, beer cans and half-eaten pizza were found strewn around the hotel room.   

"When police arrived, many of the party goers were already high on drugs," The Star newspaper quoted an unnamed source as saying, adding that various illegal substances, including cocaine, ketamine and amphetamines were seized.

 

It said that the party was organised through the social networking website Friendster.

   

Police acting on a tip-off raided the gathering at a downtown Kuala Lumpur hotel in the early hours of New Year's Day.

   

The raid came after rumours that a New Year's Eve sex party was being planned on a remote beach in southern Malaysia.

   

Tourism Minister Azalina Othman condemned the beach party as "against our culture and religion" and potentially damaging to the reputation of majority-Muslim Malaysia.

   

Police warned that the "no-underwear" event for the under-40s, advertised through a website that asked for 250 ringgit (72 dollars) as an entrance fee, could be a money-making scam.

Party organisers had reportedly said that male guest were banned from wearing briefs to the event, while women were permitted to wear only G-string underwear which had to be removed after midnight.    

Pregnant at 13, mum at 14, GCSEs at 15

Kaylib and Kizzy

By Tom Geoghegan, BBC News Magazine

As calls are made for sex education to be compulsory in all schools Kizzy Neal, 15, is one teenager with a lot on her plate - exams, boyfriends and looking after her seven-month-old son.

Kizzy was in her best friend's bedroom when she found out she was pregnant, in the summer of 2006. She was 13.

"I didn't stop crying for three weeks and I was really, really scared," she says, now aged 15. "I knew I'd done something wrong. Thirteen is not the ideal age to have a baby."

She had been fearful after having sex for the first time, unprotected, with Louie.

"Since I got pregnant, I've learnt so much about contraception, abortions and sex but at school I think I had so few sex education lessons."

While the father of her child rejected being a dad and moved away from Torbay in Devon, Kizzy never considered having her pregnancy terminated.

Kizzy Neal

As it went on, she became the target of abuse from people. She was spat at and her brothers were attacked because, her father Kevin believes, she chose not to abort it.

She has lost friends because of it but the same girls that had abused her changed their behaviour after she had baby Kaylib in May.

"When I was pregnant it was like 'You little so-and-so' but when I had the baby they were round the pram saying 'isn't he beautiful?'

"It was a bit two-faced. Without a baby, I didn't want to go out of the house and I was scared but as soon as I had the baby the people I was scared of were coming up being really nice to me."

The birth itself, in May, was the best moment of her life, she says.

"When they put him on my chest, I was so overwhelmed, you don't know whether to smile or cry or laugh or scream, you don't know what to do. It gives you a warm feeling in your tummy."

Sacrifices

From that moment on, says Kizzy's mother Kerry, who is in her 40s, the atmosphere changed. "There was so much negativity about Kizzy having the baby in the first place then when he was born there was so much joy and excitement and everyone loves him."

Kizzy returned to college in September, leaving her mother to look after Kaylib while she studies for six GCSEs. She wants to be a member of Parliament but if that doesn't happen, to be an occupational therapist.

But although Kizzy may look like any other student in the classroom, she is constantly reminded of her responsibilities as a parent because of the sacrifices she has to make and what she describes as her lost childhood.

"I miss being able to get up and go out when I want to and doing teenage things. I can't do these things as much anymore but I do get help from mum and dad so I get the chance to be a child as well as a mum."

She has made a programme with BBC Three about her experience to show other teenage girls that motherhood is "not all about cute babies, it's hard work".

"It's hard to let go of your childhood, you have to break away from that, you have grow up really fast, you have to mature quickly. It's hard getting to grips with being a mum and how to look after your child the best you can."

It's even harder without a father, and earlier this year Kizzy took Kaylib to Southend to meet his dad. On her way home, it struck Kizzy that the two probably won't meet again.

"I was thinking about the baby growing up without a dad and thought I'd let him down. It's ideal to have a mum and a dad and to have a proper environment but it's very different for me. He's got as much love as he needs, even without a dad."

Giving out condoms

Kizzy's story is not uncommon in the UK, which has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in western Europe.

There are 80,000 girls under 19 getting pregnant each year, according to Brook sexual health charity, and on average four out of 10 have the baby. But the rate is falling and sexual education is working, says chief executive Simon Blake.

"It is reducing. We've got a teenage pregnancy strategy that is working. Good quality sexual education and access to services is a real part of the solution."

Last week, campaigners called for sex and relationships education to be made compulsory in all schools. The Terrence Higgins Trust, the NSPCC and the National Union of Teachers said no schools should be able to "opt out of delivering good sex and relationships education to their pupils".

Kizzy believes her school takes the wrong approach by too readily giving out condoms and "promoting sex".

It is claimed 11 other girls at the school also became pregnant, which the school strongly denies.

The school says it devotes considerable resources to sex education and says part of its message is to teach youngsters to delay having sex until in a stable, loving relationship. It also has a confidential drop-in centre called Tic Tac that offers advice on sexual health, abortion and contraception.

Tic Tac has been held up by the government as a model of good practice but Kizzy's father Kevin believes its work undermines a parent's efforts to instil abstinence in a child. His daughter accepts it was her mistake but her fears that having Kaylib meant the "end of fun" have not been realised.

"Every day that goes by," she says, "there's something he does that makes me laugh."

Reproductive and Sexual health remains unfinished agenda in Asia Pacific

The Jakarta Post

HYDERABAD, India (JP):Many countries in the Asia Pacific region have made progress in addressing the issue of sexual and reproductive health, however there are many problems including family planning, high maternal mortality rate, HIV/AIDS prevalence, and the lack of access to information and service among young people, that need to be done, population experts and practitioners have said.

“The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in 1994 has provided normative framework for the national implementation for many countries but the changes was only rhetorical,” said the coordinator of Pakistan Women’s Resource Center Khawar Mumtaz said on Monday at the plenary session of the fourth Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health in Hyderabad, India.

The conference, which will end Wednesday, is attended by more than 1,300 representatives of government, scholar, NGOs, and government from all over the region.

Mumtaz said that the ICPD has embraced agenda from relatively non-controversial issues such as rights to quality public health services, availability of emergency obstetric cares and pre and post natal care, and family planning service, to hitherto taboo issues of sex education, abortion, and sexuality preference.

However, some issues including maternal mortality that persistently exist in the region has shown that there were unfinished agenda, she said, adding that issues of abortion and sexuality and reproductive rights were among the most critical agenda in addressing the reproductive and sexual health.

Previously at the press briefing on Sunday, the executive director of the Asian-Pacific Research and Resources Center for Women Saira Shameen said that during the period of 1994 to 2004, more than two million women died due to pregnancies and 259,530 other to unsafe abortion in the region, which is illegal in many countries in the region.

According to her, the number clearly indicates affordable, accessible, gender-sensitive sexual and reproductive health care continue to be a huge challenges in the region.

Professor of demographic at the Australia National University Terrence Hull also said that even when abortion was legal such as in India, many women had died due to unsafe procedures.

Hull pointed out providing better access to information and service on reproductive and sexual health care for young people (aged 10 to 24) was crucial in the region which recorded a total of one billion, including adolescent aged 10-19 years old.

Regarding Indonesia’s high maternal mortality rate, Hull said that the biggest challenge was to increase the blood supply which was really needed in case or hemorrhage during delivery process-- especially in the geographically challenging regions in eastern part of Indonesia.

He said raising community awareness and involvement of political leaders would be the next priority in reducing the number of maternal mortality in the country which was recorded at 307 per 100,000 live births, according to the United Nation’s report of 2004.(Agustina Wayansari)

World to learn more about contraception

JAKARTA: The Asia Pacific Council on Contraception (APCOC), together with the National Family Planning Board (BKKBN), launched Wednesday a World Contraception Day.

The first ever contraception day aims to improve awareness about the importance of contraception, organizers said.

It would also improve education around reproduction and sexual health among productive-aged women and men.

"This is an important moment to remind us contraception (can help us) to create a happy, little family life," Head of the BKKBN Sugiri Syarief told reporters here Wednesday.

He said he hoped women in Indonesia could better plan their pregnancies with contraception.

According to 2007 data from your-life.com, there are 28 million pregnancies recorded a year in developing countries worldwide, including Indonesia, some 49 percent of which include unplanned pregnancies.

And of those unplanned pregnancies, 36 percent have ended in abortion. -- JP