The Misconceptions of Conception

Contraception, it seems, is like dark humor, not everyone gets it. The World Health Organization has mentioned one of the criteria for medical devices as something with the medical purpose of control of conception. 1 It is a process that prevents pregnancy by interfering with that natural process of ovulation, fertilization, and implantation. A process that is one person’s choice, not something he/she should be forced into or denied from undertaking. Despite being a WHO approved medical device there is a lot of misconceptions and hostility shrouding the idea and use of such methods, with revered and deeply respected individuals such as Mahatma Gandhi saying, “Do you think that the freedom of the body is obtained by resorting to contraceptives? Women should learn to resist their husbands. If contraceptives were resorted to as in the West, frightful results will follow. Men and women will be living for sex alone. They will become soft-brained, unhinged, and in fact mental and moral wrecks.” This was a bold yet timeless statement as India is one of the highest users of contraceptives in today’s world2. Lest forgotten, Gandhi himself was married at the tender age of thirteen and did not take up celibacy up until the age of 38 after already having four children and living a life of pleasure both in and outside of India.

Gandhi’s cynical testimony lacked knowledge and foresight. It did not account fora term the WHO calls ‘Family Planning’, a practice that allows people to have their desired number of children and facilitates for their wish in spacing the pregnancies.3 A techniques that is accompanied by numerous benefits which include not only the prevention of pregnancy related health risks in women but also decreasing infant mortality by preventing ill-timed pregnancies that are a health hazard to the mother and the child, along with the reduction in HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in children. It serves as a method to empower people by letting them make their decisions and enhances the possibility of education by reducing teen pregnancies and most importantly it slows down the increasingly booming population rate. An approach that if understood and accepted throughout the world, will serve not just individuals but also the whole of humanity, reducing risks in virus outbreaks, access to more resources for more people, and creating a newer generation that will be smarter and more adept.

However there are always those that question science in the name of God, without understanding either. - n issue that plagued Galileo Galilei in 1663 and continues to plague humanity even after 357 years, till today. Many backward countries still have a taboo on the use of contraception, in spite of it being accessible in every drug store, the reason here is usually the censoring of sex for human need rather than a method for reproduction or the argument on the basis of morals and relegion which questions your wilingness to take a life for pleasure, some even going as far as calling it murder of the unborn.

It is often said that the law is blind and in some cases more so than ever. A case in Illionis, the United States of America saw the jury deny a 22 year old woman an abortion despite the doctors’ warning with respect to the fetus suffering from life threatening medical issues. Now a choice must be made between a woman who is still young enough to live her life and a child that might enter the world as an orphan. The reporter opines that the decision must be taken in the favor of the woman. Contraception is not the evil people are making it out to be, it is in fact a tool to combat and help stop some necessary evils. If the people of densely populated countries are educated, it can lead to a much needed halt in the growing population rate and if planned and executed well can even be used to pull certain sectors out of poverty and thus, lead to a better lifestyle.

(edited by Vaishnavi Deepak)

CITATIONS:

(4): https://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/c/contraception.asp