Iran’s Parliament has passed legislation criminalizing “abortion, sterilization, vasectomies, tubectomies and any promotion of childbirth reduction” under penalty of two to five years in jail.
The Ministry of Guidance is now charged with identifying entities that spread propaganda aimed at limiting births so that judicial authorities can deal with them.
The Khaneh Mellat website reports that despite opposition by the Rohani administration, the legislation was passed with a vote of 106 to 72 with eight abstentions.
Following the 1979 Revolution, Iran implemented a successful population-control program; however, in recent years, Iran’s Supreme Leader has reversed his earlier support for limiting births, announcing that all forms of birth control had to be scrapped so the country could meet its capacity for a significant population increase.
