The “Rejuvenation of the Population and Support of the Family” law severely restricts women’s access to reproductive health services and contraceptives. The law also prohibits women’s right to decide about their own bodies and their access to certain medical procedures, such as C-Sections or sterilizations.
In fact, a closer examination of the law on “Rejuvenation of the Population” demonstrates the regressive views of the lawmakers toward women’s rights, especially their right to bodily integrity. The law limits women’s rights and aims to push back their social gains, and through socio-cultural engineering, seeks to promote ideologies close to the State, focused on increasing the population. These policies especially target poor women who may be more likely to be enticed by monetary incentives to procreate at higher rates, but who will certainly be more negatively impacted by lack of access to contraceptives and reproductive health services and as such may be forced to go through with unplanned and unwanted pregnancies.
A more detailed description of the punitive measures, incentives and socio-cultural engineering, and ideological elements of the law are described in FEMENA’s report: “Rejuvenating the Iranian Population: Endangering Women’s Rights and Health.”