Peace Without Poison

The UN states:“The liberalization of abortion in the penal law is only one element of the global policy of the TunisianGovernment with regard to fertility and population growth. Tunisia was the first country in Africa (or theMiddle East) to adopt an official national policy directed to reducing fertility as a means of improvingsocio-economic development. After Tunisia attained independence from France in 1956, the Governmentenacted a number of legislative changes in order to change public opinion concerning the status ofwomen. Legislation enacted in 1956 provided equal rights for women, while the Personal Status Codeabolished polygamy and repudiation, introduced women’s right to divorce and set a minimum age formarriage. In 1961, the Government added to its goals the reduction of fertility and passed a law thatrepealed the French anticontraception law of 1920, stating that the importation, sale and advertising ofcontraceptives would be henceforth regulated by the legislation governing other pharmaceuticalproducts. In 1964, the minimum age at marriage was raised, the number of children entitled to receivefamily allowances was limited to four and the National Family Planning Programme was implemented ina few regions, before being implemented throughout the country in 1966. In 1965, the first liberalizationof abortion took place; however, the law was soon considered to be too restrictive and not in conformitywith the family planning and fertility objectives of the country.In 1973, when the new abortion law was approved, the Office National de la Famille et de la Populationwas created to direct the family planning programme. It was also charged with conducting demographicresearch and with informing and educating the public about family planning and family health.Subsequently, in 1988, the number of children entitled to receive family allowances was further limited tothree. All along, legislative action was complemented by other measures intended to raise the status ofthe woman and decrease fertility, such as providing schooling for both sexes, affirming the right ofwomen to practise contraception and using the media to encourage family planning. Family planning wasfully integrated into the basic health care system and maternal care centers were created to provideabortions and other services. In the Eighth Plan, for the period 1992-1996, the Government identified thedemographic targets of increasing contraceptive prevalence from 53 per cent in 1991 to 64 by 2001 andof reducing the total fertility rate to 2.6, with the view of achieving a rate of 2.1 by 2026.”Since Tunisia reached the rate of 2.1 children per woman in the year 2000, the country is wellahead of its targets.Tunisia is in stage four of the demographic transition.871 | P a g e