Bioethics, the global church, and family planning

The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity (CBHD) was pleased to be invited to collaborate with the Christian Journal for Global Health in the call for a themed issue on “The Global Church and Family Planning,” papers from which were to be jointly published in our respective publications. Despite the significant progress made through the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the subsequent adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), maternal and infant mortality remains unacceptably high in certain parts of the world. The work of aid organizations to decrease such tragedies in global health is laudable, and many faith-based organizations (FBOs) are at the forefront of commendable efforts in this regard. Part of the purpose of this themed issue was to raise particular ethical and theological questions surrounding the practice of family planning and its relationship to these broader efforts to reduce maternal and infant mortality, particularly within the context of faith-based organizations. Embedded in the broad international discussions of family planning is the assumption that there is an “unmet need” for contraception, a concept which is regularly promoted within international health organizations such as the United Nations Population Fund. What is lacking is an awareness that this terminology implicitly makes ethical claims about contraception, procreation, and sexuality. For example, one of the criticisms about “unmet need” made in a previous paper is that it assumes that if a woman is not currently using contraception, regardless of her reason, she has an “unmet need.” 1