{"id":17118,"date":"2013-02-24T06:10:40","date_gmt":"2013-02-24T11:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=17118"},"modified":"2013-02-24T09:56:59","modified_gmt":"2013-02-24T14:56:59","slug":"govt-bans-lrt-on-women-and-vasectomy-on-men-after-bodhu-bala-sena-protested-against-birth-control-to-protect-dwindling-sinhala-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=17118","title":{"rendered":"Govt Bans LRT on Women and Vasectomy on Men After Bodhu Bala Sena Protested Against Birth Control to Protect Dwindling Sinhala Race"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Chrishanthi Christopher<\/strong><\/p>\n

L<\/strong>ast week the government sent out a communiqu\u00e9 to all government hospitals and private institutions banning all irreversible family planning methods that control birth.<\/p>\n

Following the ban Maternity Hospitals and Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that do Ligation and Resection of Tubes (LRT) on women and Vasectomy on men shelved their plans and struck off all scheduled procedures from the hospital registers. This follows an announcement by the government that the procedures should not be carried out on women and men unless it is done for medical purposes.
\n
\nMaternity Hospitals, Gynaecology Units of Base Hospitals and NGOs dealing with population control came under deep shock. They say that the government\u2019s call comes without any warning.<\/p>\n

Health Ministry, Secretary, Dr. Nihal Jayatilake said that the procedure hitherto being done on men and women should not be carried out unless it is for a medical reason. He refused to explain the reasons for the ban but stressed that none of the NGOs are allowed to carry out any permanent birth control methods. \u201cThis is government policy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ironically this call come at time when the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), a movement claiming to be protecting Sinhala culture and values called on the government to put an end to all irreversible methods of birth control claiming that the Sinhala nation is dwindling.<\/p>\n

Against their will<\/strong><\/p>\n

They say that women and men of the productive age group are pushed into accepting the procedure against their will by certain NGOs who have vested interests. The BBS General Secretary, Gala Boda Atte Gnanasara Thera told Ceylon Today that the Sinhala women who go to the hospitals to give birth are unwittingly opting for the procedure. He blamed the midwives and attendants in the hospitals for misleading young mothers who come there for confinement. \u201cThey are trained to advocate the procedure to young mothers. We are against this type of behaviour. Our women are misled or pushed into believing that they should not have more than two children,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Gnanasara Thera said that the Family Planning Law of 1973 is outdated and cannot be applied today. The Act states that women in the age group of 26 years and above are eligible for family planning \u201cThose days men and women got married early and they had many children at that age. But now they start life at 30 years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government has got to intervene and ban the procedure before it is too late. There is a conspiracy, our Sinhala population is declining,\u201d Gnanasara Thera added.<\/p>\n

He claimed that in the Tamil populated areas, the doctors inform the women and men of the repercussions of the surgical procedures and do not advocate it till they are over 40 years.<\/p>\n

Government has to intervene<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pointing a finger at the NGO Marie Stope International, he said that funding for the birth control procedures are done by them. In addition he says that illegal abortions are also being carried out by the institution. \u201cThey have a sinister aim behind it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

However, the Family Health Bureau and the Family Health associations who are in collaboration with Marie Stope International and help it perform the sterilization procedures say that it is totally wrong to say that the mothers and fathers are pushed into this. \u201cIt is a misconception. It is purely voluntary and only if they opt for the procedure the surgery is done,\u201d Family Health Chief Dr. Deepthi Perera said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow even we are trying to revise the age limit for this procedure. We are thinking of raising the age limit to 35 and above,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

However, critics argue that the ban will only put older women at risk and drive them to illegal abortion. It is reasoned out that with the ban the older women who have teenage or adult children and would like to have an LRT procedure would be deprived. They maintain that women with grown up children would like to have a permanent method of contraception.<\/p>\n

In such instances when and if they get pregnant they would not like to get help from the family planning units and would be pushed to other resources. Most often than not they will seek the help of illegal abortion clinics that would charge them exorbitantly and even put their lives in danger.<\/p>\n

It is also argued that abortion parlours which would mushroom and quacks and half baked doctors would perform abortions on mothers most often using makeshift theatres and often not following sterilization methods that could turn aseptic and put the mothers at risk or even kill them.<\/p>\n

The Family Health Association (FPA), also a family planning organization has shelved all its scheduled LRT procedures until further notice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is banned, we cannot challenge the government\u2019s decision … the repercussions would be unplanned pregnancies,\u201d said a doctor at the FPA who wished to be anonymous.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe use to do around 30 procedures once a month and now everything has to be cancelled,\u201d the doctor said.<\/p>\n

The Human Rights Commission welcomed the move and said that it is the right to life. Its Chairman Prathiba Mahanamahewa said according to the Human Rights Declaration of 1948 and the Political Rights Convention, everybody has a right to life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an individual right and this is another issue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Colombo Archbishop\u2019s House also expressed its pleasure for the move to ban the birth control methods. \u201cWe believe that birth control and abortions are sinful and we welcome the move,\u201d Fr. Benedict Joseph of the Archbishop\u2019s House told Ceylon Today.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ban opens up for birth and it is in keeping with the teaching of the church,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

LRT<\/strong><\/p>\n

LRT is a simple procedure done under local anaesthesia and is performed in a theatre for 20 to 30 minutes. The patient goes home the same day. The procedure will not have any effect on the menstrual cycle of the women.<\/p>\n

Vasectomy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Male sterilization or vasectomy is a minor surgery taking only 10 to 15 minutes, also done under local anaesthesia. Post surgery there will be no effect on the sexuality or quality or quantity of the ejaculatory fluid of the person.
\nCOURTESY:CEYLON TODAY<\/em><\/p>\n

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By Chrishanthi Christopher Last week the government sent out a communiqu\u00e9 to all government hospitals and private institutions banning all irreversible family planning methods that control birth. Following the ban Maternity Hospitals and Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that do Ligation and Resection of Tubes (LRT) on women and Vasectomy on men shelved their plans and …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Govt Bans LRT on Women and Vasectomy on Men After Bodhu Bala Sena Protested Against Birth Control to Protect Dwindling Sinhala Race’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17118"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17118"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17144,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17118\/revisions\/17144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}