Parliament to eye bill "On Reproductive Health"
By Amina Nazarli
The Azerbaijani Parliament will discuss a bill "On Reproductive Health" at the plenary session on April 15.
Ahliman Amiraslanov, the chairman of the parliamentary committee on health issues announced about it at the round table titled “The traditions and customs of the formation of the family institution” on April 13.
Amiraslanov went on to say that several subjective reasons delay the adoption of the bill.
“The main reason is in the wrong organization of advocacy. Vitro fertilization, which is stipulated in the project, is carried out in such Muslim countries as Saudi Arabia and Iran. Then why it should not be applied in our country?!” he said.
The MP believes that issues included in the bill, should not be perceived as contrary to Islam.
Opponents of the bill claimed that the matters included into the project, such as artificial insemination, "surrogate mother" and donor insemination contradict the national mentality. Supporters of the bill believe that the adoption of the law will help prevent divorces and childlessness.
“We held meetings with structures opposing the bill, and mulled a number of issues that cause discontent. Particularly, we met with the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations, and the Caucasus Muslims Office and discussed these issues together,” he said.
The meetings revealed that these structures didn’t know the
essence of the issue, he said, adding that therefore, the issues
that are included in the bill cannot be perceived as contrary to
Islam.
“Both the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations and
Caucasus Muslims Office approved the bill. As soon as Parliamentary
Chairman Ogtay Asadov agrees, it will be included in the agenda for
discussion,” he explained.
The long-lasting discussions on the adoption of "Reproductive health and family planning" caused wide public debate.
Achieving good reproductive health remains a far-off goal in many parts of the world. Family planning is one of the most basic and essential healthcare services that can promote and ensure reproductive health, yet at least 200 million women lack access to modern methods of family planning in the world.
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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on
Twitter: @amina_nazarli
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