A Criticism of the Distribution of Contraceptives According to the Youthful Population and Protection of the Family Law

The reproductive right, in its positive or negative form, has been raised in all religions and sects as well as in international documents and human rights, as an important principle and a supported and demanded right. However, the negative population growth rate in recent years in Iran, despite religious documents and laws and jurisprudential and theological support, shows the importance of the government’s attention to the causes of negative population growth and the necessity of taking measures to resolve this problem. Even though the population increase is of paramount importance and governments have the right to recommend and encourage population growth according to their visions, it is the right of every family to freely make their own decision regarding fertility or non-fertility. Although the reproductive right requires the freedom of decision, we should not ignore the positive and negative consequences of legislation regarding the population increase under any title and for any purpose. Informing people of these consequences is the responsibility of the governments and it is the right of the citizens to be fully aware of them and then make a decision freely; the freedom of action which has been neglected by the legislators in the Youthful Population and Protection of the Family Law and needs to be revised. This study attempted to investigate different viewpoints and domestic and foreign scientific and legal texts, to first prove the freedom of individuals in the implementation of reproductive rights, and then, explain the merits and demerits of Article 51 of the Youthful Population and Protection of the Family Law. Finally, certain suggestions were proposed to change this article as well as the legislators’ point of view regarding the strategies to increase the population growth rate.