Birth Control in Afghanistan

In the town of Mazar-I-Sharif birth control has been a "hush hush" subject for as long as many can remember, especially in houses headed by Mullahs, an Islamic man educated in Islamic theory and sacred law. Recently a seminar on birth control was held for Islamic religious leaders from this area and its suburbs. It stated that having babies is a very good thing, but having too many is putting a strain on society. Afghanistan has the highest birthrate in Asia and this rate is putting a strain not only on society, but on Afghan mothers as well. It is becoming an even bigger problem in the poverty stricken areas, where families cannot afford large numbers of children, and some even face being malnourished due to lack of money for food. With an average of 6 children per family birth control is being given to many women in the area for free by local agencies. Many men are still against the idea and see it as a bad thing, not even wishing to hear the benefits. However, the women who have received it are very happy to have the choice of when to conceive.
High numbers of children, due to lack of birth-control, also put a strain on society and mothers during the Progressive Era in America. The birth-control movement was just taking off, but many still saw it as a very radical idea, as do some in Afghanistan. With men against the idea, and the distribution and advertisement of birth control being completely illegal, many women had high numbers children very similar to the numbers these Afghan women are having. Like Afghanistan, this became a huge problem in poor areas of America, where women could not afford having that many children. More than not these children were malnourished, and suffered from diseases they would not have faced otherwise. The high number of children was increasing the poverty rate and putting a strain on working mothers trying to support their large families.
With the help of women like Margaret Sanger and Katharine McCormick birth control finally became legalized for the masses in America and helped many poor women regulate their childbearing rate to what they could afford. Although many men in the Islamic faith oppose its use, many feel confident that birth-control can have the same positive benefits for those in Afghanistan as it did for those in America. It is to be hoped that it can be seen as a positive way to help families stay as big as their budget can afford and relieve the stresses on society and more importantly the mothers of these households.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/world/asia/15mazar.html?_r=2&hp