FATIMA MUHAMMAD

SAUDI GAZETTE

 

JEDDAH — After a heated debate, the Shoura Council on Monday decided to send back the Kingdom's population policy document to its subcommittee for review and necessary amendments.



The decision was taken after some members fiercely fought against a clause in the document that purportedly included population control measures.



The housing committee in the Shoura listened to the objections raised by the members and voted to send the document back to the subcommittee for necessary amendments.



The Ministry of Planning had officially asked the Shoura to discuss and approve the document that called for regulating birth rates and encouraging families to leave a reasonable age gap between children.



Earlier this year, Shoura member Saud Al-Shamari had presented a proposal to introduce birth control measures in the country as a means of protecting the health of mothers and children.



He called for a gap of at least two years between births. However, the proposal was dropped after it faced vehement opposition from conservative members of the council.



According to the ministry document, the Kingdom's population tripled in the past 35 years. By 2020, the country will have some 6 million women of childbearing age.



The Shoura group that opposed the proposal included female members Noura Al-Adwan and Zainab Abu Taleb.



Supporters argued that the move would have a positive impact on several aspects of Saudi social and economic life.



Al-Shamari said the proposal should be looked at as a national plan to organize families from "a health perspective.” He said the proposal, if adopted, will reflect positively on both mothers and children and will ensure "successful families free from illnesses".



“Unfortunately,” he said, "conservatives at the Shoura have not understood it this way. They looked at it as an effort to reduce the birth rate in the Kingdom."



He said the document does not suggest a cap on the number of children each family can have and therefore there is no ground for any misunderstanding.



“This is a strategic plan that will give birth to healthy generations of Saudis,” noted Al-Shamari.