Family Planning: a human right and a matter of citizenship.

Family planning, more than a government program or a project of parliamentarians or federal, state, and municipal governments, is a right that Brazilian families have so that they can organize themselves, with the goal of planning a better quality of life, as well as having data regarding, even, how many children the couple wants to have.

All countries considered developed have long implemented family planning, which, for those who don't know, is enshrined in our Constitution. Many people who oppose family planning claim that the State or Parliament wants to control the family, which is absurd and nonsensical. In reality, family planning is a tool that allows families to plan their lives and better organize their interests, including their financial ones.

To that end, the Social Security and Family Committee of the Chamber of Deputies has held public hearings on family planning over the past decade, with the purpose of discussing and debating the guidelines that govern such planning so that we can implement it definitively, in a democratic and organized manner within Brazilian society.

After discussions and the setting of goals for the implementation of family planning in the country, municipal, state, and federal governments must expedite this process, because many families lack access to information and thus become victims of the painful situation of having to raise children without the means to provide them with the minimum necessary for their survival, as well as to educate them within the family and in schools, which often, mistakenly, also have to be responsible for the students' education regarding family education, which is irreplaceable.

The Parliamentary Front in Defense of Family Planning, created in April 2007, is fighting for men and women to have access to contraceptive methods through the public health system. According to Law 9263/96, which regulates public policies on family planning, citizens from the age of 25 have the right to choose to use permanent contraceptive methods.

Therefore, I am against lowering the minimum age for women or men to use definitive methods. The law, in my view, meets the needs of couples, and discussions with civil society will continue, especially since family planning is considered a basic right to a dignified life, in addition to being enshrined in common statutes of mutual cooperation and control mechanisms that comprise human rights.

There are people or groups who claim that the State wants to control population growth and thereby interfere in the lives of citizens, which is untrue. The UN International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), in 1994, gave importance to sexual and reproductive health and rights, which goes beyond a merely demographic issue, because what is of concern is the development of the human being, who needs medical care, access to education, employment, and housing.

In turn, it is urgent to implement family planning in Brazil, which will greatly help people plan the number of children they want to have and, consequently, protect them more effectively from drugs, violence, hunger, and ignorance, for example. Advanced societies have implemented this process in a democratic context, not imposed from above. Family planning is one of the solutions so that society can protect its children, who are the future of the nation and the workforce when they are adults.

Some who oppose family planning also argue that the underprivileged population will not have access to information on the subject because the state lacks the tools to provide knowledge about this process. I agree, in theory. Because in practice, the country does have the conditions to implement family planning; it just needs determination and organizational capacity.

And how would governments ensure that people, especially those less informed, learn about family planning? I answer: through INFORMATION. All methods and techniques for conception and contraception, all support for couples regarding the knowledge to plan their lives and their families, must be disseminated through the media, mandatorily and free of charge, at times to be defined by governments and executives of the various media outlets operating in Brazil.

Furthermore, the Unified Health System (SUS), as well as the private hospital network, must make public, through posters, brochures, pamphlets, billboards, etc., all information about family planning in hospitals, clinics, and health centers, so that the population knows that planning family size democratizes society because it is a human, social, and economic right that provides a foundation for families, allowing them access to a better quality of life and the ability to raise children without so much work, suffering, and worry.

Law No. 9.263, enacted on January 12, 1996, regulates family planning in Brazil and establishes the following in its second article: "For the purposes of this Law, family planning is understood as the set of actions for regulating fertility that guarantees the equal right to establish, limit, or increase the number of children by women, men, or couples." In conclusion, I want to make it clear that planning for life is social progress, progress for humanity, for the family, for our children, and for the country. For family planning now!