Former Health Minister of the Islamic Republic: Restrictive Screening Laws Will Increase the Number of Disabled Newborns

Reza Malekzadeh, former Health Minister of the Islamic Republic, states that the plans being implemented in the country for population growth, restrictions on contraceptive methods, and limitations on screening are erroneous laws that will increase the number of disabled newborns. Reza Malekzadeh, a university professor and a gastroenterology and liver specialist who served as Health Minister during Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's era, mentioned in an interview with Khabar Online that the 'Population Growth Law,' the restrictions imposed on screening, and the limitations on obtaining contraceptive methods are incorrect, stating: 'Decisions made regarding childbirth are partly based on incorrect collective reasoning.' The former Health Minister also identified the laws enacted regarding restrictions on screening and therapeutic abortion as one of the reasons for the increase in the birth of disabled newborns, deeming the decisions made in this area as 'incorrect' and 'unscientific.' He pointed out that the main reason for the decline in childbirth is the rising education level of women, explaining: 'It is a reality that when women become educated, they do not give birth to five children anymore.' He also cited the rising cost of living and lack of sufficient income as another reason for the decline in population growth rates. The leader of the Islamic Republic, in the early years of the 2010s, criticized the family planning and population control policies of the 1970s and 1980s in Iran, calling for the country’s population to increase from 78 million to about 200 million. Following this request from Ali Khamenei, the Islamic Consultative Assembly approved the 'Comprehensive Population and Family Excellence Bill' in 2015, which prohibited access to contraceptive methods and voluntary sterilization. In the fall of 2021, the Guardian Council also approved the 'Population Growth and Family Support Law,' which, despite its title, imposed severe restrictions on women's reproductive rights, including access to birth control and sterilization, a ban on abortion, and the continuation of systematic discrimination against them. Mostafa Moein, former head of the Medical System Organization, warned on March 18 that there is 'chronic mismanagement' in the Ministry of Health, a lack of investment in people's health, and 'unscientific policymaking' by the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council, stating that Iran will soon face a collapse of its medical system. A group of human rights activists in Iran reported on May 10 a detailed account of restrictive laws and discriminatory practices in the area of women's 'reproductive health,' emphasizing that the Islamic Republic has systematically limited women's autonomy over their bodies and reproductive health and weakened it through discriminatory practices. The website Hrana, while publishing this report, referred to the strict and restrictive policies of the Islamic Republic regarding fertility and abortion, especially in the past decade under the pretext of 'the necessity of increasing the population,' stating: 'Since 2012, with the change in government policies and repeated emphasis by the leader of the Islamic Republic on preventing population decline, women's reproductive rights have been severely restricted, and their access to safe abortion and contraceptive services has decreased, leading to illegal abortions that pose physical risks and irreversible consequences for women.' The report from this human rights organization also noted that the enforcement of laws criminalizing abortion and the application of 'positive discrimination' in favor of men in the workplace have placed Iranian women in a position where they face significant barriers to accessing essential reproductive healthcare and exercising their fundamental rights. The dangers of the prohibitions created and the government's insistence on childbirth for the people, from the perspective of Narges Shiraghai, are highlighted in a newspaper report on the survey 'Values and Attitudes of Iranians'; the decrease in the willingness to have children among housewives, the deprivation of Iranian women from basic human rights; warnings from human rights organizations regarding 'violations of reproductive rights' in Iran, despite President Raisi's 'order'; 149,000 people are still waiting for marriage loans, and a member of parliament says the Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade is not providing cars to mothers, another sign of the failure of childbirth plans. The Attorney General has called for 'increased' action against abortion.