World Population Day: Family planning is a human right — but it comes at a cost

For many women across the globe, family planning is by chance rather than choice.

While the ability to control the number and spacing of one's family was affirmed as a human right nearly 50 years ago — because of lagging access to reproductive resources such as contraceptives — the stark reality hundreds of millions women face is that family planning is not a guarantee.

That's the message the United Nations Population Fund wants to underscore as it marks World Population Day on Wednesday, which aims to highlight urgent issues facing the international community.

With the population today nearing 7.5 billion globally, census experts predict that by 2030 that number will rise to 8.6 billion – roughly adding 83 million people each year to the planet. 

"Why do we still want to celebrate but also at the same time want to put the world’s attention to the issue?" said Arthur Erken, director of communications and strategic partnerships for the United Nations Population Fund. "Because at the same time more than 200 million women still do not have access to family planning."

Perhaps more concerning is that the U.N. arm designed to help with family planning faces a funding crisis.

The United Nationals Population Fund, UNFPA Supplies, is predicting a $700 million funding gap over the next three years that could halt support to 46 countries with modern contraceptives if the money is not raised. Additionally, UNFPA is lagging donations from previous major donors and allies, such as the United States.

In April 2017, the Trump administration eliminated its funding for the UNFPA because it "supports, or participates in the management of, a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization," in China, according to a State Department letter. The UNFPA refuted this claim.

In 2016, the United States donated about $63 million, and $75 million in 2015, to the UNFPA.

And to get the $700 million necessary to provide the resources it would like to, UNFPA would need to appeal to the governments who support their mission to donate funds on a completely voluntary basis, said UNFPA spokesperson Eddie Wright.

"Why is it important? Because it’s one thing to say it’s a human right, OK, thank you very much. But it doesn’t come for free," Erken said.

UNFPA predicts that the funding could save $3.4 billion in direct health-care costs, prevent 205,000 maternal deaths and prevent 1.29 million newborn and child deaths in addition to averting 28 million abortions.

If left underfunded, UNFPA anticipates they would be unable to prevent 40 million unintended pregnancies, 15 million abortions, 113,000 maternal deaths and 710,000 newborn and child deaths.

He worries that should the financial resources not exist to help establish family planning practices globally, the United Nations Population Fund may not achieve its 2030 goal to "achieve universal access to sexual and reproductive health," which is followed closely by many in the reproductive community.

And while it may seem like a hard-fought or unattainable goal, as hundreds of millions of women still lack access to contraceptives and family planning resources, those in the industry remain optimistic.

"I do think there has been, over the last 10 to 15 years, an unprecedented commitment to issues of family planning," said Reshma Trasi, director of research and metrics for Pathfinder International.

What it boils down to for Erken is that countries cannot afford to not make contraceptive and reproductive resources and information available as the population continues to rise.

"But it has to fundamentally start, family planning as a human right, with the families getting to choose how, and when, and how many children they have," said Meaghan Parker, partnerships director for the Global Sustainability and Resilience Program.

WPXI