Taliban bans contraception in two cities, calling use a ‘Western conspiracy’ to control Muslim population

Terming it as a western conspiracy to control Muslim population, the Taliban has prohibited the selling of contraception in two of Afghanistan's major towns, reported The Guardian. The Taliban has been going door to door, threatening midwives and ordering pharmacies to not sell birth control medicines and devices.

“They came to my store twice with guns and threatened me not to keep contraceptive pills for sale. They are regularly checking every pharmacy in Kabul and we have stopped selling the products,” Guardian quoted a store owner as saying. “You are not allowed to go outside and promote the western concept of controlling population and this is unnecessary work,” a midwife was told by a Taliban commander as per Guardian.

“Items such as birth control pills and Depo-Provera injections are not allowed to be kept in the pharmacy since the start of this month, and we are too afraid to sell the existing stock,” another shop owner in Kabul told Guardian.

This comes as the Taliban's latest attack on women's rights since taking control in August 2021. Since then, the group has prohibited females from pursuing further education, closed down universities for women, forced women to leave their employment, and restricted their activities outside of their homes.

Shabnam Nasimi, an Afghan-born social activist in the UK, told Guardian, “The Taliban’s control not only over women’s human right to work and study, but now also over their bodies, is outrageous."

“It is a fundamental human right to have access to family planning and contraception services free of coercion. Such autonomy and agency are essential components of women’s rights, such as the right to equality, non-discrimination, life, sexual health, reproductive health, and other basic human rights," Nasimi said.

According to a Human Rights Watch report from 2021, most Afghan women lack access to basic information on maternity health and family planning.

“What emerged is a picture of a system that is increasingly unaffordable to the estimated 61 per cent to 72 per cent of Afghan women who live in poverty, and one in which women often have more children than they want because of lack of access to modern contraception; face risky pregnancies because of lack of care; and undergo procedures that could be done more safely with access to and capacity to use more modern techniques,” the report said.

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